County approves new pot regulations

EPHRATA — After a public hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes, the Grant County Commission unanimously approved on Tuesday new regulations for marijuana growers and processors, putting regulations for the state’s newest cash crop more in line with other aromatic industrial and agricultural endeavors.

The three county commissioners approved a 500 yard — 1,500 foot — setback from any urban growth area, city limit, or residential zoning district for outdoor marijuana production. County Planner Damien Hooper had originally proposed a half-mile setback — 2,640 feet — but all agreed 500 yards was more in line with other county rules.

“This puts marijuana in line with dairies and CAFOs [confined animal feeding operations],” said longtime Commissioner Richard Stevens.

“We don’t want to seem like we’re discriminating against any industry,” added Commissioner Tom Taylor from Moses Lake.

Under the new regulations, indoor marijuana production and processing on county land must be set back 100 feet from any property line, unless it is located in land zoned heavy industrial.

In addition, the commissioners struck language from the proposed marijuana regulations that would have prohibited marijuana producers or processors from emitting any odors that would have been detectable at a property line.

“I don’t live too far from a feedlot,” Stevens said. “And when the wind is just right, you can smell it. Keeping odors inside a property line is not possible.”

There have been numerous complaints, both to county and state officials, about the smell from marijuana patches, especially outside stands during harvest season, and county officials are attempting to deal with this by limiting where and how marijuana can be grown.

However, there were no public comments at the hearing.

While Stevens said he appreciated concerns about the smell of marijuana cultivation, he also remembered a time when the smell from sugar beet refineries around Moses Lake sometimes hung over the city like a dank fog.

“That was hard to escape,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com