Dayton Bans Marijuana Businesses

MEDICAL CANNABIS GARDENS ALSO OUTLAWED BY CITY COUNCIL RULING

DAYTON - The Dayton City Council on Monday night passed an ordinance banning growing, processing and sales of marijuana in the city. Under the new law, recreational marijuana businesses will not be allowed within city limits, and medical cannabis gardens will also be prohibited.

The vote was 5-1 in favor of the ban. Council members Delphine Bailey, Kathy Berg, Christine Broughton, Byron Kaczmarski and Mike Paris voted yes, while council member Dain Nysoe voted no. (There is currently one vacant seat on the seven-member council.)

The ban lifts the second of two six-month moratoriums on marijuana businesses that the city had imposed. That moratorium would have expired later this month.

After the motion for the ban was made by Bailey and seconded by Berg, both council members spoke up to say that they felt marijuana businesses didn't belong in Dayton. "We don't need this in our town," Berg said. She also pointed out that, when I-502 passed in 2012 legalizing recreational marijuana in the state, voters in Dayton voted against the measure and that the council should heed their wishes.

Nysoe said the issue wasn't that clear. "Fifty four percent voted no," he said of voters in Dayton, "and 46% voted yes. I'm here to represent the 46%." Nysoe said that since voters in the state had approved the measure that the council should go along with state law, even if a slight majority in Dayton opposed it.

The vote came after several months of work by Dayton Planning Director Karen Scharer and the Dayton Planning Commission. Scharer had prepared, and the commission approved, a draft ordinance which defined land-use zones in which marijuana businesses would be allowed as conditional uses. The planning commission and city council both held public hearings on the proposed ordinance, in which speakers overwhelmingly spoke in opposition to it. The council never voted on that ordinance.

Since the council had held a public hearing on the proposed marijuana ordinance during its August 26 meeting, no public comments were taken prior to the council's vote this week. However, a full house packed the council chambers Monday night, and several people spoke after the council's vote.

Dayton resident Dawn Meicher, who is a nurse practitioner at the Waitsburg Clinic, said she disagreed with the council's decision. "Since the marijuana law passed, I've had patients come to me and tell me how much marijuana has helped them," Meicher said. "I've tried to have an open mind and listen to them."

Meicher said that, because marijuana has been illegal for so long, very little data is available about what harm it does or what benefits it may have. Her patients, however, clearly feel there are benefits, she said. "I hope this isn't a permanent decision, and that the council will revisit it at a later time," she added.

Waitsburg city council member Deb Callahan spoke, saying she has suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years, and that medical marijuana has made her life much easier. "I run a collective garden in Waitsburg," she said. "I'm registered with the city of Waitsburg and Walla Walla County, and I provide (medical marijuana) for people in Dayton and Walla Walla County."

Dayton resident Charles Zickefoose told the council that marijuana should be kept out of Dayton. Columbia County Commissioner candidate Dwight Richter and former Dayton City Council member Art Hall both spoke, saying they opposed recreational marijuana.

Hall however said he had concerns that the city was opening itself up to a lawsuit, and that as a city resident, he was concerned about the financial impact that could have on the city.

After the meeting, Scharer confirmed that the ordinance passed by the council Monday makes growing medical cannabis, including collective gardens, illegal in Dayton, even though medical cannabis has been legal in Washington for more than a decade. When asked if there were currently any medical cannabis gardens in Dayton, she said she knew of one.

"I believe that one will be grandfathered," Scharer said, adding that she would have to check with the city's attorney to make sure.