Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jan 2014
Source: Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)
Copyright: 2014 Yakima Herald-Republic
Contact:  http://www.yakima-herald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/511
Author: Mike Faulk, Yakima Herald-Republic

MARIJUANA BUSINESS BAN DRAWS CONCERNS FROM PUBLIC

Yakima, Washington - Support for Yakima's proposed ban on marijuana
businesses may not be as certain as it once seemed.

Persuaded by impassioned arguments for and against, the city's
Planning Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to table the issue for
further discussion next week. The commission was widely expected on
Wednesday to recommend the City Council approve the ban.

"Because this is such a difficult issue and because there are so many
valid arguments, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable voting on either side
of this issue," Commissioner Scott Clark said as the board discussed
whether to call a vote following public testimony.

Commissioners Al Rose and Dave Fonfara indicated they were ready to
make a recommendation, but eventually agreed with others to call for a
special meeting next week. The City Council has scheduled its public
hearing on the ordinance for Jan. 21 and could make a decision then,
regardless of whether the planning commission makes a
recommendation.

About 30 area residents attended Wednesday's meeting, with half of
them providing testimony. They ranged from average residents for and
against to public safety activists and business owners who have
applied for marijuana licenses under a voter-approved initiative.

Testimony boiled down in large part to what impact allowing the
growing, processing and sale of marijuana in city limits would have on
children.

Supporters of a ban said legal sales would make it easier for youth to
access marijuana; opponents said that if drug sales are banned in
Yakima but legal elsewhere, it will make it easier for black market
dealers to target area children.

"It seems to me someone who has spent thousands to open a business is
a lot less likely to sell (pot) to your children than a guy operating
out of his van down at the park," Yakima resident Michael Platte said.

Bob Whitney, a Yakima resident and volunteer with the Union Gospel
Mission's Madison House, said legalization encourages youths to abuse
drugs.

"Youth are highly likely to believe the implication is that it's safe
to use," Whitney said.

The draft ordinance is four pages long, with the first three pages
laying out the city's argument for the ban. That argument spans from
what it calls "secondary effects" of marijuana businesses, such as
increased crime, and maintains that state law doesn't specifically
require cities to allow those businesses if they don't want them.

"Sometimes it's useful to kind of put all the arguments or
justifications in the body of the ordinance itself," Yakima senior
assistant city attorney Mark Kunkler said. "We've done that on
occasion for certain issues."

The ordinance also states there will be "adequate access" to marijuana
businesses in the vicinity of the city despite the ban. Yakima County
commissioners have said they don't want to allow marijuana businesses
either, but are awaiting an opinion from the state Attorney General's
Office on the legality of a county ban.

That opinion, expected no later than February, will also weigh in on
whether municipalities can ban marijuana businesses.

Attendees were more than eager to let their opinions be known at
Wednesday's meetings. Opponents of the ban shouted down one supporter,
Yakima resident Ken Marble, during his testimony in which he cited an
incorrect statistic that legal marijuana was selling for $400 a gram
in Colorado.

Marble said the point was that black market dealers would try to
undercut the heavily taxed legal marijuana market by lowering their
prices.

Fonfara, who was also named chairman of the commission at the start of
the meeting, encouraged attendees to not let their passions get the
most of them.

"You can definitely sense the passion from both sides," Commissioner
Paul Stelzer said. "I think we owe it to the people on both sides to
look at this a little bit more and investigate the findings a little
bit more."

The proposed ordinance, which also reaffirms the city's ban on medical
marijuana dispensaries, would effectively make it impossible to
purchase marijuana legally in the city limits, but does not make it
illegal to possess it.

The ordinance puts no restrictions on advertising for marijuana
products in city limits, although the law approved by voters includes
certain restrictions on marijuana advertising, such as prohibiting
advertising on public transit or near schools or public parks.

If approved by the City Council at its Jan. 21 meeting, the ordinance
would go into effect 30 days after it is passed. A slim majority of
council members have already said they would support the ban.

Photo: Holt Williamson questioned Yakima city attorney Mark Kunkler 
about the penalty for violating an ordinance banning marijuana 
businesses in the city during a meeting of the Yakima planning 
commission Jan. 8, 2014. Any violation would be treated as a city 
code violation, said Kunkler. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Related Information

If you go:

What: The city of Yakima's Planning Commission gives further 
consideration to a proposed ordinance banning recreational marijuana businesses

When: 3 p.m. Wednesday

Where: City Council Chambers, Yakima City Hall, 129 N. Second St.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D