Marijuana Business Moratorium on University Place Council Agenda

The University Place city attorney is recommending that the City Council adopt a six-month moratorium on marijuana businesses as it tries to sort through the conflicts between Initiative 502 and federal law.

The issue is on the agenda for a special council meeting Monday, March 25, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also on the agenda is a public hearing on the surface water management program.

In a March 21 memo to the council and city manager, City Attorney Steve Victor recapped the law’s passage last year and the council’s initial decision to take a “no action” approach to the new law. (The memo is available as part of the council packet, starting on page 195.)

“For some unknown initial period of time, until the State’s ultimate course of action is resolved, the City may continue to deny permits and licenses for marijuana-related uses, if the State has not yet licensed them,” Victor wrote. “However, if the State begins to issue marijuana producer, processor and retailer licenses, the City will likely have to accept such uses.”

The council previously decided to take no action. “Some time has now passed and with it the likelihood of the State beginning to license such practices increases,” Victor wrote in the memo. “In order to be prepared with appropriate zoning and regulations, I recommend that the Council now adopt the six-month moratorium. This will allow time to develop a work plan regarding all the issues surrounding Marijuana Use in a thoughtful, methodical manner so that the City is ready if/when the State begins to license such activities.”

Should the city adopt a six-month moratorium on marijuana business activities? Tell us in the comments.