Here’s how Whatcom may regulate large marijuana farms and greenhouses
Whatcom County won’t accept applications for new or expanded outdoor marijuana-growing operations for at least six months while codes governing the location, size and other rules regarding such farms are rewritten, the County Council has decided.
In a pair of 6-1 votes Tuesday, April 6, the council approved a temporary ban on new outdoor farms and also agreed to consider adding marijuana greenhouses to the moratorium when it meets April 20.
Councilmember Ben Elenbaas voted against both measures.
“I don’t think that this is about shutting down the industry,” said Councilman Todd Donovan, who initially proposed the temporary ban.
Tuesday’s action was prompted by increasing complaints from residents of rural enclaves such as Kendall about odors, noise and light pollution at night from the farms, according to the text of the ordinance.
“This is a tough one because you pit property rights on both sides of an issue,” said Councilman Tyler Bird.
“Right now, we have more farms than anyplace else (in Washington state) and we also have so many people from across the county that are suffering the repercussions of that,” he said. “I don’t think that it makes a lot of sense for us to approve applications that we know are creating problems on both sides that no one is happy with.”
With approval of the measure, the county Planning and Development Services Department will prepare revisions to local codes that regulate marijuana-growing operations for the council to consider in the future.
Initiative 502, which Washington voters approved in 2012, makes recreational marijuana legal for adults.
A state attorney general’s ruling in 2014 said counties can place restrictions on cannabis-related businesses, and Whatcom County developed its first local regulations in 2015.
About 30 production or processing facilities are located in Whatcom County, according to the text of the ordinance.
Although the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board isn’t issuing new applications for marijuana-processing facilities, existing licenses can be transferred and, with local restrictions, businesses may be able to move.
The cannabis board accepted applications for one month in late 2013 and does not plan to open the window for new retail or producer licenses at this time, according to its website.
Current marijuana farms and greenhouses are regulated as commercial or industrial uses and not as agriculture and shouldn’t be allowed in rural residential zones, according to several speakers who addressed the council during a public hearing that lasted more than an hour on Tuesday.
“We feel this is a necessary and logical step to protect our rural communities until the county ordinance can be reviewed,” said Rainbow Medicinewalker of Kendall.
“It is not our intention to harm the cannabis industry. Only to reconsider how and where it is appropriate to place these operations. As we draw closer to federal legalization, big venture capitalists stand poised to take over the marijuana industry and our current county codes do not appear to prevent this,” Medicinewalker said.
Medicinewalker said the moratorium will not only protect rural communities, but will also preserve small local pot farmers.
“Our rural zones and rural residential communities and are not appropriate locations for industrial-scale operations of this kind,” she said.
“We do not feel that intensively bright Thunderdome-type lighting from tens of thousands of square feet of greenhouses, widespread pervasive odors for months at a time, large enclosed warehouses with loud, industrial exhaust fans and armed guards who imply violence or directly threaten passing neighbors are conducive to maintaining rural character and a healthy community,” she said.
Other speakers said that the ban threatens jobs, tax revenue or their expansion plans — including Mark Ambler, who said his small operation is a “poverty-level business” that brings in about $25,000 a year.
“Do you really get Whatcom County, is my concern. Every time someone says this is big business and all that, come to my farm and I’ll show you watering with 5-gallon buckets and you’ll understand why I’m shaking right here while you’re trying to shut down my business,” he said.
In an email to The Bellingham Herald, Ambler said he was hopeful that growers and residents can work with the county Planning and Development Services Department on new regulations that satisfy.
Other speakers said they support marijuana farms because they provide local jobs.
Virginia Naef lives next door to a small marijuana-growing operation in Acme.
“There is occasionally some odor, but it’s just an odor. I also smell cow manure from a different neighbor, but it really doesn’t bother me very much,” Naef said.
“This is a vibrant industry. It hires local people, people that don’t have to have a college degree, and yet it provides a pretty good income for them,” she said.
