Another Tri-City community considers allowing retail pot sales. What happens next?
West Richland is considering lifting its ban on retail cannabis less than a month after Pasco became the first in the Tri-Cities to do so.
The city’s planning commission will take a first look at a proposed amendment to allow retail sales in its light industrial zones when it meets Thursday, July 13. A public hearing also is set for Aug. 10.
“I’m hopeful West Richland will lift their ban. I mean, they’ve got Nirvana (Cannabis Company) right there outside their geographic border,” said Ken Weaver, owner of Yakima-based Slow Burn cannabis retailer.
Nirvana is a small retailer currently located in an unincorporated slice of Benton County that’s just outside the West Richland city limits.
In November 2020, Weaver and his company K&B Weaver LLC filed an application with West Richland requesting it amend its zoning code to allow retail cannabis in three areas: Commercial general, commercial light industrial and light industrial zones.
After reviewing the application, city staff recommended the planning commission look at lifting the ban in only one zone — the light industrial zone — which encompasses the area around the Keene Road-West Van Giesen Street intersection.
“The LI zone would likely be the better location as it is approximate to the police station and would likely not be located near city zoned residential properties,” city staff wrote in their report.
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board — the state agency that aggressively regulates and enforces cannabis retail, production and processing — allocates only a certain number of licenses and title certificates to jurisdictions based on population.
Weaver holds West Richland’s sole title certificate for retail cannabis sales, even though it’s not allowed yet.
If the city were to lift its ban, Weaver’s business would be the only one who could sell retail marijuana with a state license in that city.
Commercial pot production, processing and cooperatives would still remain illegal in West Richland.
Pasco paves the way
The city of Pasco appears to be a model for the West Richland proposal.
Staff wrote in city documents that they would aim to “establish performance standards similar to those found in the recently adopted Pasco regulations.”
But a lift on West Richland’s ban would still need to pass both the planning commission and city council. And it’s unclear whether or not elected officials support the move.
If it passes, the city will be able to collect a percentage of revenue through a sales tax.
“I think cities are going to see Pasco bringing in this money and are going to say, ‘We should be doing this, too.’ It’s going to happen,” said Ryan Cooper, a former Richland resident who led a failed effort in 2018 to lift his city’s ban on cannabis retail and production.
The Tri-City Herald spoke with Cooper in May, prior to Pasco’s ban-lifting vote. He praised Pasco for even considering the subject, and said that opening up to retail cannabis has been shown to reduce drugs on the black market.
“I think it shows that if you can find common ground, you can get things done. This all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work. But I understand people find cannabis frightening,” he said.
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West Richland growth
In recent decades, West Richland has grown from a small collection of ranch and agriculture properties to a modest-sized bedroom community. Its population has risen more than 9% the last two years making it one of the fastest growing cities in the Mid-Columbia, and its population today sits at nearly 17,800.
On June 5, the Pasco City Council voted 4-3 in favor of lifting its ban to allow retail cannabis sales downtown, as well as in commercial and industrial zones.
The vote marked the end of a decade-long struggle by local marijuana activists and business owners to ease government restrictions in the city of 80,000.
Pasco has four state retail licenses available, and some of those business owners say they hope to open this summer.
Aside from Prosser and Pasco, all cities in Benton and Franklin counties ban cannabis retail.
Benton County hosts several cannabis retailers in its unincorporated areas, including the only two dispensaries currently operating in Tri-Cities: Nirvana Cannabis Company and Finley Green2Go.
Nirvana Cannabis Company
Nirvana Cannabis Company at 4950 Arena Road opened in 2019 shortly before the county placed a moratorium on new marijuana producers and retailers.
Weaver said Nirvana’s success and close proximity to West Richland show that previous concerns voiced by homeowners several years ago about rising crime and public drug use never came to fruition.
“It was absolute hysteria,” said Weaver, 71. “It’s a very, very frustrating process because the moral argument against marijuana, against alcohol, is super easy to debunk but absolutely impossible to defeat.”
He’s been trying to get the city to lift its ban since 2015.
Weaver owns and operates four retail stores with his children in Yakima, Union Gap and Moxee. They’ve been in the pot business for about nine years now.
He’s also the co-founder of Weaver Flower Company, a Yakima Valley-based floral arrangement company that has been active in international markets since 1978.
Weaver said K&B Weaver will wait to see if the West Richland council lifts its ban before resuming search on a location.
“I’m not going to proceed knocking on doors until we’ve got final approval,” he told the Herald. “I don’t want to be stuck out in the boonies where no one is willing to drive, but at the same time I want to accommodate the city leaders as best I can.”
Support in West Richland?
How do West Richlanders feel about retail marijuana?
The reaction is quite mixed, a citywide survey conducted between May and June shows.
Out of 662 citizen responses, roughly 32% said they would “strongly support” allowing retail cannabis sales within the city, while 26% said they would “strongly oppose” it.
About 18% said they were “neutral” on the issue. Another 16% said they would “somewhat support” the move, and 8% said they would “somewhat oppose” it.
In all, nearly half of those who responded — about 48% — said they would likely or strongly support retail sales.
