On Tuesday Evening, March 31, the Whatcom County Council will be holding a public hearing on a set of proposed permanent recreational marijuana regulations.
The County currently has an interim ordinance in place, which restricts where recreational marijuana businesses may locate and imposes development requirements for these facilities.
The proposed permanent regulations further increase setback requirements from recreational marijuana facilities to residential neighbors and community centers (i.e. churches). Increasing the setback requirements from churches will further preclude legal marijuana businesses from locating in Whatcom County. The justification for this setback restriction has never been established since state regulations already preclude any marijuana business from locating near any school, playground, or other location that would attract minors.
The County also proposes to require that all recreational marijuana facilities install an engineered mechanical ventilation system. Additionally, signage and landscaping requirements are further defined for marijuana businesses.
The proposed regulations can be found here.
For more information on the regulation of recreational marijuana businesses, please contact Heather Wolf.