Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
In a two-hour and 15-minute virtual work session Monday, Whitman County commissioners got into the particulars of what may be voted on next week about marijuana.
With county prosecuting attorney Denis Tracy joining on screen - approaching a Dec. 21 public hearing on the planning commission’s proposal for a marijuana ordinance - commissioners put forth amendments regarding lot-size requirements, sensitive use areas, acreage allowed to marijuana businesses in the county, total operations allowed and more.
All would potentially modify what the planning commission drew up after a year and a half of work.
Emerging in support of tight measures against the drug was commissioner Dean Kinzer, with Art Swannack offering more moderate views and Michael Largent speaking mainly without opinion.
Next week’s public hearing will include a morning and evening session, for the convenience of those who would like to give input.
Monday began with a discussion of odor.
“This isn’t directly a nuisance ordinance,” Prosecutor Tracy said. “It’s a zoning ordinance. Zoning is health, safety and welfare. There is a basis for a zoning code that would apply to marijuana... with a byproduct, smell, that does detrimentally impact the neighbors.”
He noted a municipal code used by the City of Seattle since the 1920s, regarding control of scents emitted from a business, which states that “disagreeably noticeable odors” should be “condensed or destroyed” at a certain distance from the operation.
“I believe that this code (proposed by planning commission), with some modifications for how to measure odors, I think that that is enforceable,” said Tracy.
The planning commission’s ordinance purports that no marijuana operation shall emit odors detectable at or beyond the lot lines of the facility.
Discussion of distances followed.
“Theoretically, odor stops at the border, by law,” said Commissioner Michael Largent, board chairman.
Alan Thomson, county planning director, asked about training for smelling.
“This is so subjective,” he said. “Who pays, who trains... it could be a ‘he said, she said’ kind of thing. We’ve had people say they smell it in an area and others say they don’t.”
He asked a question based on if outdoor growing goes away in Whitman County.
“I’m worried about the subjectivity of smell,” Thomson said.
“If there was a quantifiable way to measure it, by parts per billion, with the equipment to do it, that would be ideal,” said Prosecutor Tracy. “It may require two smellers. It seems like you could make this overly-complicated. I do think training is important, as it reduces the arguments.”
He mentioned that the state Liquor and Cannabis Board does inspections on similar matters.
Commissioner Art Swannack then noted that a town in Michigan (Bessemer) bought a “Nasal Ranger” (St. Croix Sensory) at a cost of $3,400 to detect marijuana odor.
Public Works Director Mark Storey, a civil engineer by trade, made a comment.
“The planning department will be responsible for complaints,” he said. “... The technology is going to change quickly as this industry continues to evolve.”
Largent then talked about what language commissioners wanted to insert into the proposed ordinance.
Beginning with amendments, Commissioner Dean Kinzer put forth a change to eliminate all outdoor production of marijuana. Also, he requested to include secondary schools in the list of sensitive use areas which operations are barred from being near – naming any institution in which (high school) students get credits, noting the Running Start program students who take classes at WSU or Spokane Community College.
“Just keep it away, totally, and put that in the definition,” Kinzer said.
Sensitive use areas are traditionally places such as libraries, K-12 schools, public parks, transit centers, day-care businesses and more.
Thomson stated that there has been no indication, by university-professor input in planning commission hearings, that marijuana smell alone harms people.
A dicussion followed about what Kinzer’s amendment would mean, since WSU owns separate facilities, from its golf course to farmland to undeveloped land out in the county. Swannack asked if this would cause problems with WSU hosting the state high school FFA convention, for example.
“It has to do with proximity, not odor, necessarily,” said Kinzer, clarifying his propoal to mean “any property owned by WSU, period.”
“The language needs more specificity,” Largent said. “I guess we’re looking for language to vote on when the time comes.”
Another amendment put forth by Kinzer was to set the maximum number at two for retail marijuana outlets allowed in the county’s unincorporated areas. This is what the total is now in operation.
“There’s no question there’s no net benefit to people using marijuana,” said Kinzer. “It’s causing society to go backward in my book. Alcohol destroys countless marriages, careers, families.... marijuana does not even have warning labels...”
Amendments proposed by Swannack followed.
He asked for a rule to set buildings at least 100 feet from the property line. He also wanted a change to the minimum lot size for a marijuana operation to go from two acres to five.
Kinzer asked to lift it to 10.
“It allows better (mitigation of smell). It also requires people to put some skin in the game by purchasing property,” Kinzer said, noting the county once required 20 acres for someone to build a house.
“That’s been done away with,” said Thomson. “That was in the ‘70s.”
Largent said he would support an amendment of five acres minimum for a marijuana facility.
Swannack then called for a county list of sensitive uses.
A further amendment request from Kinzer sought an increase from 1,000 to 1,500 feet for a buffer zone from a marijuana property to a residential lot.
“Let’s face it, a lot of people are very offended by having a marijuana operation (near where they live),” said Kinzer.
Largent then looked ahead to next week.
“I would like to get a nice clean copy (of these amendments) so we have the language to go up or down,” he said.
Swannack suggested color-coded documents with the added amendments, on which public input would then be given.
“We take testimony on them and then we think about what they said,” Swannack said.
Thomson made a note that if residences are added to the list of sensitive uses then it would negate industrial zones and commercial zones from allowable areas for marijuana producers and/or processors – since houses exist within 1,000-1,500 yards of each of these zones in Whitman County.
Kinzer said he had no problem with this effect.
“Marijuana has not turned out the panacea it was thought to be,” said the commissioner. “It has actually reduced revenue to the county, by the fines we used to get, compared to the taxes generated.”
Kinzer offered another amendment: to limit the marijuana plant canopy in the county to 200,000 square feet.
“Just a smidge over four-and-a-half acres, or six tier-three growers,” he said.
Tier three refers to state parameters for a producer’s operation of 10,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet.
The planning commission began work on the ordinance in March 2019, after county commissioners passed a moratorium on any new marijuana businesses and requested the planners study the issue.
Kinzer will finish his two terms as a commissioner in January, after being narrowly defeated in November for a third term.
“The commissioners make these decisions,” Thomson said later Monday. “Maybe the heavy lifting is already done. But now they have to fine-tune it.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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