County Ponders Pot Zones

DAYTON – The Columbia County Board of Commissioners on Monday met with County Planning Director Kim Lyonnais to discuss potential changes to the county’s zoning ordinance to identify where marijuana businesses can be located.

The Commissioners gave direction to Lyonnais to establish the following zoning designations for marijuana businesses:

Marijuana growing operations will be allowed in all “A” (agricultural) zones, but not in “AR” (ag/residential) zones.

Marijuana processing businesses will be allowed in both light and heavy industrial zones.

Retail marijuana businesses will be allowed in commercial zones only.

No vote was taken at the Monday meeting, but Lyonnais said he will work with the county planning commission to created an updated zoning ordinance that will be presented to the commissioners before the end of this year, and include the above zoning restrictions.

Lyonnais also said that the zoning map for Columbia County will likely be revised, with one of the changes being expansion of the commercial zones.

“Our commercial zones outside the city are very limited,” he said. The only commercial zones currently located in the unincorporated county are at Blue Mountain Station and at the former “Mom’s Café” site on Highway 12, several miles north of Dayton.

Lyonnais said that the planning commission will look at a number of areas around Dayton where additional commercial zoning could be designated.

Because the City of Dayton has banned marijuana businesses for now, these would be the only places where new marijuana retailers could locate in Columbia County.

Lyonnais and the commissioners all made clear that there are other significant restrictions that will limit establishment of marijuana businesses in the county. First, all marijuana businesses must be licensed to operate in the county by the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Also, a conditional use permit from Columbia County will be required prior to establishing a business here. The CUP process will allow local residents to have input prior to any business being approved, and it will allow the county to put specific conditions on the operations of those businesses, so that impact on neighbors is minimized.

The County began the process of laying out marijuana zoning restrictions last month after the commissioners voted not to ban marijuana businesses. The vote was taken as the moratorium on those businesses, which had been in place since September 2013 and extended multiple times, was expiring once again.

Though new zoning restrictions have not yet been adopted, no moratorium on pot businesses in place in the county. Lyonnais said that, while he has received some preliminary inquiries from potential business owners, he is not aware of anyone beginning the licensing process with the state to establish a marijuana business in Columbia County.