No marijuana retail store at Battle Ground center

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The two applicants for a marijuana retail store in Battle Ground will have to target a new home.

Josh Oliva, the leasing manager for the Battle Ground Market Center, told The Reflector newspaper that he has informed the two applicants for a retail marijuana store in Battle Ground that he will not lease them a store. Both applicants listed Suite 110 in the center, located on Main Street at the west end of the city, as their proposed site in their permit application with the City of Battle Ground and in paperwork submitted to the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB).

“We decided that we will not be leasing space in our shopping center - the Battle Ground Market Center - to a marijuana retailer in the event one of the applicants that applied under our address is awarded a license by the state,’’ Oliva said. “I made it clear to the two applicants early in this process that I needed time to research the evolving legislation and that I had not made a final decision on whether we would ultimately lease them space.

“Over the last few weeks, I have discussed the issue with a number of folks including our existing tenants and the City of Battle Ground, and for a multitude of reasons it is best for us to pass on leasing a space to a marijuana retailer at this time,’’ Oliva said.

In Battle Ground, city officials have processed 11 permit applications relating to marijuana. Of those, nine are for either, or both, processing or production and two were for retail sales. Both of the applications for retail sales listed the same potential location – 2404 W. Main St., Suite 110, in the Battle Ground Market Center.

Both applications for retail sales in Battle Ground were made by applicants with listed residences in Vancouver. Dale Rennaker issued an application under the business name Greenjuana and Loren Carlson applied under the business name C4U. Both applications indicated the owners would have six estimated employees and would have hours of operation Mon.-Sun., 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

The two applicants received Oliva’s permission to use the Battle Ground Market Center address in their application to the WSLCB.

As elected officials from Clark County and area municipalities continued to deal with the reality of the voters’ passage of Initiative 502 (I-502), the WSLCB approved a lottery process on April 2 that will identify the 334 stores around the state that will be licensed to sell marijuana. Brian Smith, a spokesman for the WSLCB, said he couldn’t reveal whether or not either, or both, of the Battle Ground applicants met the WSLCB’s qualifications for licensing.

If one of the two applicants is qualified by the WSLCB, that applicant would still need to negotiate a lease on a store with a location that met all the requirements of I-502. The marijuana retailers would be limited in any attempts to find other locations due to the fact that I-502 requires all marijuana retail, processing and production facilities be located at least 1,000 feet from the nearest existing school, park, playground, daycare center, transit center, recreation center, or library.

Because of those limitations, it is unknown what other options the two retailers have for a new Battle Ground location.

Calls to both Rennaker and Carlson by The Reflector for comment were not returned.

An independent, double-blind lottery process will take place April 21-25 that will produce an ordered list of applicants that the WSLCB will use to continue its licensing process. The agency expects to begin issuing retail licenses no later than the first week of July.

Of the 334 retail stores to receive retail marijuana licenses in the state, 15 are allocated to Clark County. Six stores would be allowed in Vancouver and six more in the unincorporated parts of the county. Battle Ground, Washougal and Camas would each receive one.

The WSLCB will post the ordered list of applicants for each jurisdiction on May 2. The stores could be open for the sale of marijuana this summer, a reality that state and local officials are aware may be shocking to citizens who have not taken the time to follow the process.



“We’re getting to the point where the rubber meets the road,’’ said Brian Smith, a spokesman for the WSLCB. “It’s becoming a reality. It used to be an exercise where people would watch the state at work. Now, it’s becoming a reality at home.’’

County to consider zoning amendments

Clark County commissioners placed a moratorium on the operation of marijuana facilities and that moratorium was extended for four months in February. It is set to expire in June.

The Clark County Planning Commission has proposed changing the county zoning codes to allow the operation of marijuana facilities. The commissioners will consider those amendments at a public meeting on Tues., April 15, at 10 a.m. The meeting will take place in the hearing room on the sixth floor of the Public Service Center, located at 1300 Franklin Street, Vancouver.

The proposed changes would allow:

• Marijuana production and processor type I facilities on parcels zoned agricultural 20 acres and forestry 40 acres, in industrial zones and processor type I facilities in business park zones.

• Marijuana processor type II facilities in industrial zones.

• Marijuana retail facilities in commercial zones.

“The bottom line is that whatever we do, we will fulfill the law, both state and federal,’’ said Commissioner David Madore. “So, we will come up with a permit process, a permit method. But, like Pierce County, we will include the requirement that federal law also be respected.’’

Madore pointed out that marijuana is still illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The federal government still maintains the right to prosecute state-authorized marijuana use, although President Barack Obama has publicly stated that the federal government has no intention to do so.

Pierce County has effectively banned marijuana businesses in its unincorporated areas with the inclusion of the requirement that federal law also be respected. As Madore indicated, it’s the intention of the commissioners to do the same in Clark County.

That type of a stipulation would mean that unless marijuana is removed from the federal controlled substances list by an act of Congress and signed into law by the president, Clark County won’t be issuing any marijuana permits any time soon.

“In order to comply with federal law, our staff cannot process a permit where it makes them accomplices to violating federal law,’’ Madore said.