EVERETT — Two months after the Everett City Council renewed an interim ordinance that regulates recreational marijuana businesses, the city has come under pressure to change or overturn it.
Neighbors opposed to a new retail shop on Rucker Avenue have appealed to the City Council, and on Nov. 26, council member Ron Gipson proposed an emergency action to essentially halt all marijuana retail sales in the city.
That proposal was voted down out of concern for possible legal action, but all the council members expressed a desire to address the situation on Rucker in a manner that would be fair to residents — and legal.
“It’s no secret that the citizens voted this in,” Gipson said, referring to Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana businesses. “It’s now up to us to craft an ordinance that will be workable.”
The shop at 4218 Rucker Ave., Purple Haze, plans to open in a building once used as a hair salon and law office. It has already filed for permits with the city.
Rucker Avenue’s zoning allows a wide variety of uses, including residential. The street is home to such businesses as an auto parts store, a nail salon, a massage parlor, a paint shop and a Safeway store, as well as a few residential houses. Across an alley is a residential neighborhood.
Everett’s interim recreational marijuana ordinance was renewed in October and will come up for renewal again in April. It is more restrictive than state law in some ways. For example, it imposes a higher minimum separation between marijuana retail businesses, from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet.
But Everett’s ordinance also specifies that those retail shops be in commercial or industrial zones, which include the E-1 zone on Rucker Avenue and Evergreen Way.
It’s an unintended consequence of I-502 that the council only now has learned.
“I didn’t think there would be residences in a commercial zone, but lo and behold, we do have some,” Gipson said.
A few doors down, at 4312 Rucker, is the headquarters for Camp Fire Snohomish County Council, the youth social and outdoors organization.
Dave Surface, the executive director for Camp Fire, said his organization might need to consider moving if Purple Haze opens.
“It wouldn’t matter if it was a liquor store or a tobacco shop, it’s not just the thing we think is appropriate for kids,” Surface said.
The Camp Fire office hosts kids once per week for the Teens in Action program, and some Camp Fire clubs meet there regularly, Surface said.
Any decision to sell the building would have to come from the organization’s board of directors, Surface said.
Jim Iles, the Everett city attorney, informed the council Nov. 26 that the state didn’t view the Camp Fire offices to be in the same category as other sensitive uses that cater to children, such as schools and public parks with playgrounds.
The state has already issued Purple Haze a license to operate at the location.
At the council’s Dec. 3 meeting, Purple Haze co-owners Eugene Elfrank and Angela Deoliveira promised to operate as good neighbors and emphasized that they have followed all the laws and regulations set forth by the state and city.
“We want to be a strong part of the community and not a nuisance,” Deoliveira told the council.
Marcia Fischer, an attorney hired by the owners of two houses on Rucker, suggested that the City Council consider regulating marijuana businesses as it would other adults-only businesses, like strip clubs. That would require a minimum separation between them and any residential areas.
While the strip fronting Rucker Avenue is zoned for commercial use, it adjoins a residential neighborhood across an alley.
Many residents of that area protested the new marijuana shop at Wednesday’s council meeting, even though the issue was not on the agenda.
Council member Paul Roberts wouldn’t comment on the Purple Haze case, given the potential for litigation, but he said the residents do raise fair questions about how to handle pot businesses near residential areas.
“The challenge is, it’s a transitional zone,” Roberts said. “There are clearly some questions that need addressing.”
It may be that the city’s renewal of the interim ordinance in April will be when that happens.
Gipson said he hopes to revisit it sooner.
“But I’m not holding my breath,” he said. “My concern isn’t April, it’s now.”
Allan Giffen, the city’s planning and community development director, said his staff has been gathering information from Everett and other communities about the impact of new marijuana businesses. Specific recommendations haven’t been proposed yet.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters @heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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