Public scrutiny comes with pot-industry territory

Mom and pop pot dealers should prepare for the bright light of public scrutiny as they enter the marijuana mainstream.

There will be no hiding as the state lets cities and counties know who wants to grow, process and open a cannabis corner market in their communities and where exactly they want to do it.

Soon these wannabe legal dope dealers will be the talk of many a town and maybe the target of a few not-so-mellow neighbors, who don’t want the businesses near their homes.

The state Liquor Control Board has received more than 3,700 license applications and has begun informing cities and counties which ones are on their turf. For each application, cities and counties have 20 days to express support, opposition or no position.

“If the local authority objects, we review with an additional layer of scrutiny,” liquor board spokesman Brian Smith said. “Typically, we are looking for whether the local authority made a case that providing a license to the applicant, or at that location, is a threat to public safety. The burden is on the local authority to make its case.”

State law does not tell elected leaders what to do before responding. It does not, for example, require public hearings but it doesn’t dissuade them, either.

That’s where the city of Lynnwood may be blazing a trail for others.

Late last month, the mayor’s office received word from the state of an application for a license to grow and process marijuana on a stamp of commercial land on 208th Street SW abutting homes and the Interurban Trail.

City leaders sprang into action and scheduled a community meeting to discuss and dissect this application.

They mailed notices to residents living in the vicinity with the date, time, place and reason for the meeting. They attached the liquor board’s official letter containing names, phone numbers and birth dates of the applicants. They posted it all online as well.

City leaders no doubt wanted to be certain residents knew exactly who had designs on growing pot on this particular corner.

Not surprisingly, this didn’t sit well with Mark Greenshields of Auricag Inc., who applied for the license for a 30,000-square-foot indoor growing operation. Greenshields said he understood the purpose of the meeting but worried the spread of personal information could create professional and personal problems for he and his partners.

He had another reason for his frustration — by the time the notices went out, he’d already abandoned plans to open in Lynnwood and is looking to operate in unincorporated Snohomish County near Woodinville.

That made the need for a meeting moot in his mind, but Assistant City Administrator Art Ceniza insisted early Monday it would not be canceled. (Tuesday morning it was canceled, with no reason given.)

Departing Councilwoman Kerri Lonergan-Dreke supported getting residents together regardless of the status of the application because legal pot businesses are coming to town and most residents don’t seem to realize it.

The city needs to be proactive, she said. She hopes public sessions are held on every application, even the ones that don’t materialize, she said.

“I think that’s a good strategy to take,” she said. “It’s good for folks to start to understand how the state has responded to the initiative.”

And a reminder for those looking to grow and sell pot in this state: Public attention, unwanted or not, is one of the costs of doing business.

Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Guilty: Jury convicts Bothell man in long-unsolved 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.