Planning 2013-07-25 Item 4 - PUBLIC HEARING: RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA - INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM

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INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 allowed as greenhouses and nurseries (RCC, NCC, RC, RCM, TUC, CL/I0, LI, and HI) or farming and farm - related activities (TVS zone). Additionally, these uses could occur in residential zones subject to the home occupation requirements which do not regulate use. B. Prohibit The City could prohibit (either on an interim or permanent basis) recreational marijuana uses from locating within the City. The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a moratorium prohibiting recreational marijuana uses within the City of Tukwila on July 22, 2013. If adopted, this six month moratorium is intended to prevent recreational marijuana uses from becoming legally vested while the City adopts permanent development regulations. The moratorium is temporary but the WSLCB has indicated that local moratoria will not be recognized in their licensing decisions. As stated above, state law does not allow a local jurisdiction to prohibit a use and an attempt at prohibition would likely be legally challenged. C. Regulate. If the City wants to regulate marijuana -uses, its primary tool would be through zoning regulations3. An amendment to the zoning code could allow recreational marijuana -uses only in certain zones in the city and /or subject to certain location standards. The maps attached show the locations that marijuana uses would be restricted by the WSLCB and the areas that remain for potential marijuana uses (Attachments C and D). Aside from a few isolated pockets, marijuana uses can generally be located in the north and the south ends of the city. Marijuana uses have potential impacts that need to be considered. Sites require increased security; production and possibly processing may also require increased ventilation and electricity use on indoor sites and perimeter fencing on outdoor sites. Off -site odors are an issue and building transparency requirements under design review may conflict with security needs. Clustering marijuana uses in one area allows these impacts to be consolidated; off -site impacts could be limited. The north end of the City, where marijuana uses could be allowed, is generally Manufacturing /Industrial Center -Heavy with an area of Light Industrial, Commercial -Light Industrial, and Manufacturing /Industrial Center - Light. The Countywide Planning Policies and the Tukwila Comprehensive Plan have polices in place to preserve this area for manufacturing and industrial uses making marijuana uses inappropriate in this area. The south end of the City has Tukwila Urban Center, Heavy Industrial, Mixed -Use Office and Tukwila Valley South zoning available for marijuana uses. The City is in the process 3. Under the TMC, all businesses in the City are required to obtain a business license. Any business license application for a recreational marijuana use would be denied for being in "violation of any local, state, or federal law, rule or regulations prohibiting that conduct of that type of business." (TMC 5.04.110). While some other cities are attempting to limit all recreational marijuana business uses via their business license code, a review of state law and consultation with the City Attorney clarifies that a city cannot require a business license for marijuana uses. State Law grants cities the authority to require a business license in order to do business in that city. However, state law also prevents a city from requiring a business license if a license is required from the state. Recreational marijuana uses that have a license from the WSLCB would not be required to obtain a business license from the City of Tukwila and the City of Tukwila could not issue a business license to any applicant for marijuana use because those uses are in violation of Federal Law.