EVERETT — In a 6-1 vote, the Everett City Council approved an ordinance to increase the number of recreational marijuana stores operating within city limits from five to eight. The result of the Oct. 14 vote paves the way for three Washington state marijuana license holders to open for business in the coming months.
Although the council rejected a proposal to reduce the 2,500-foot minimum separation distance between dispensaries to only 500 feet. The existing city-mandated separation, equaling nearly a half-mile, ensures “healthy competition” between all of the cannabis retailers, said Council President Judy Tuohy.
Citizens voiced their support for the ordinance prior to the vote, expressing a greater need for variety in Everett’s marijuana dispensaries.
Kristina Franklin, the general manager of Kushman’s, an existing dispensary on Evergreen Way and the newest cannabis retailer to open in Everett, also expressed her support for the ordinance while maintaining the existing 2,500-foot buffer.
“We hope that you consider the contributions that [our business] has made to the community and the value that we add, as you consider allowing three more stores,” she said.
“Like us, all these stores deserve a chance,” she added.
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board currently allows for the city of Everett to operate up to 10 retail marijuana stores. The city’s zoning code, however, previously limited the number of recreational dispensaries to no more than five.
In 2019 Council Member Liz Vogeli first asked her peers to reconsider the number of cannabis stores in Everett and coordinated with the council’s Public Safety Subcommittee to make it happen. Finding no significant economic or public safety impacts of adding three more stores, the subcommittee agreed to bring the ordinance before the full council.
The ordinance was originally set to be voted on in March but was postponed in order to address matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My motivation was simple,” Vogeli said. “Marijuana retail stores are no different than cafes and home improvement stores in that they bring in needed revenue and support their local community. We need more of that local investment.”
Jay Hix Jones, an Everett-based TV writer, producer, and director who has worked on series including Ice Road Truckers and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, told the council that he occasionally used cannabis and CBD to manage his arthritis. He credited marijuana with helping save the life of his seven-year-old daughter, Hunter Rose Jones.
Diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in 2017, Hunter battled five cycles of chemo, two tumor removal surgeries, a dozen rounds of radiation, two stem cell transplants, and six months of immunotherapy. It took multiple recommendations by doctors to convince Jay and his wife to invest in cannabis to help their daughter manage her pain.
In February 2019 Hunter received her final treatment.
“(Cannabis) replaced almost all of the addictive narcotic medicines that my daughter was taking,” Jay Hix Jones said. “Her appetite came back and it helped calm her nerves during some very unnerving times for her and my family.”
The lone opposing vote to the ordinance came from council member Scott Bader. Although he had previously voted in favor of opening the first five dispensaries, he worried about the “image” of allowing three additional cannabis retailers to open in Everett and saw no significant increase in tax revenue which could convince him to vote in favor of the ordinance.
Joshua Estes is ecstatic about the outcome of the vote. A managing partner at the Mukilteo-based strategic firm Pacific NW Regional Strategies, Estes represents one of the three soon-to-be marijuana retailers. After working on the project for more than three years, he is pleased to see that the council finds these businesses beneficial not only for medical patients but to the general community too.
“This vote is a win for us, a win for the community, and a win for the city,” Estes said. “And we think everyone will come to see that in time.”
