LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION OF I-502 UPDATE with LEGISLATIVE TRENDS
March 26th 2014
Background: Washington voters approved Initiative 502 in November 2012 setting up a legal system to tax and regulate marijuana for recreational use. Cities and counties were given authority to pass additional zoning regulations. Cities have final authority granting licensing for marijuana businesses, following state approval.
Project: The Center collected data on the 75 most populous cities in Washington to examine how local governments have handled I-502 implementation legislatively. Over the last several months the Center has tracked the shifting implementation strategies of those cities.
Definitions:
ZONED: City council passed legislation zoning areas where marijuana businesses could apply or updated the Municipal Code recognizing recreational marijuana.
MORATORIUM: City council passed legislation putting a hold on accepting marijuana licenses. These ranged from 6-12 months.
BANNED: City passes legislation banning marijuana businesses until the drug is approved federally or officials have threatened to ban.
NO ACTION: Cities took no legislative action, will treat marijuana businesses like any other business or simply expands medical marijuana laws to recreational.
# of cities | %* |
Population Impacted ** | |
ZONED | 33 | 44% | 2,293,070 |
MORATORIUM | 29 | 39% | 1,094,924 |
BANNED | 5 | 7% | 223,416 |
NO ACTION | 8 | 11% | 244,469 |
Total | 75 | 3,855,879 |
From January 1, 2014 to March 25, 2014 seventeen (17) cities have altered their policies related to I-502. The legislative movements are:
Moratorium to Zone | 10 |
Moratorium to Ban | 2 |
No Action to Zone | 2 |
No Action to Moratorium | 2 |
Zone to Moratorium | 1 |
Key Findings:
- More cities that originally passed moratoria have opted to zone rather than ban.
- Only 2 additional bans have been implemented after the Attorney General’s opinion affirming local bans.
- Moratoria have dropped in 11 cities.
City | County | Est. Population | Status | |
1 | Seattle | King | 634,535 | ZONED |
2 | Spokane | Spokane | 209,525 | ZONED |
3 | Tacoma | Pierce | 202,010 | ZONED (Interim) |
4 | Vancouver | Clark | 165,489 | ZONED |
5 | Bellevue | King | 126,439 | ZONED |
6 | Kent | King | 122,999 | MORATORIUM |
7 | Everett | Snohomish | 104,655 | ZONED (interim) |
8 | Renton | King | 95,448 | MORATORIUM |
9 | Yakima | Yakima | 93,101 | BANNED |
10 | Federal Way | King | 91,933 | MORATORIUM |
11 | Spokane Valley | Spokane | 90,641 | ZONED (Interim) |
12 | Bellingham | Whatcom | 82,234 | ZONED |
13 | Kennewick | Benton | 75,971 | MORATORIUM |
14 | Auburn | King/Pierce | 73,505 | MORATORIUM |
15 | Pasco | Franklin | 65,398 | MORATORIUM |
16 | Marysville | Snohomish | 62,402 | MORATORIUM |
17 | Lakewood | Pierce | 58,852 | BANNED |
18 | Redmond | King | 56,561 | MORATORIUM |
19 | Shoreline | King | 54,352 | NO ACTION |
20 | Richland | Benton | 51,440 | MORATORIUM |
21 | Kirkland | King | 50,697 | ZONED (interim) |
22 | Burien | King | 49,410 | ZONED |
23 | Sammamish | King | 49,069 | MORATORIUM |
24 | Olympia | Thurston | 47,698 | ZONED (Interim) |
25 | Lacey | Thurston | 43,860 | NO ACTION |
26 | Edmonds | Snohomish | 40,400 | MORATORIUM |
27 | Bremerton | Kitsap | 39,251 | NO ACTION |
28 | Puyallup | Pierce | 38,147 | MORATORIUM |
29 | Longview | Cowlitz | 36,458 | ZONED |
30 | Lynnwood | Snohomish | 36,275 | ZONED (Interim) |
31 | Bothell | King/Sno | 34,651 | NO ACTION |
32 | Issaquah | King | 32,633 | MORATORIUM |
33 | Wenatchee | Chelan | 32,562 | BANNED |
34 | Mount Vernon | Skagit | 32,287 | ZONED |
35 | Walla Walla | Walla Walla | 31,864 | ZONED (Interim) |
36 | University Place | Pierce | 31,562 | MORATORIUM |
37 | Pullman | Whitman | 31,359 | ZONED |
38 | Des Moines | King | 30,449 | ZONED |
39 | Lake Stevens | Snohomish | 29,104 | ZONED |
40 | SeaTac | King | 27,667 | BANNED |
41 | Maple Valley | King | 24,171 | ZONED |
42 | Mercer Island | King | 23,661 | NO ACTION |
43 | Bainbridge Island | Kitsap | 23,263 | MORATORIUM |
44 | Oak Harbor | Island | 22,260 | ZONED |
45 | Kenmore | King | 21,280 | MORATORIUM |
46 | Moses Lake | Grant | 21,182 | ZONED |
47 | Mukilteo | Snohomish | 20,605 | ZONED |
48 | Camas | Clark | 20,490 | MORATORIUM |
49 | Mountlake Terrace | Snohomish | 20,198 | ZONED |
50 | Tukwila | King | 19,611 | ZONED |
51 | Port Angeles | Clallam | 19,056 | NO ACTION |
52 | Mill Creek | Snohomish | 18,671 | MORATORIUM |
53 | Ellensburg | Kittitas | 18,348 | ZONED |
54 | Arlington | Snohomish | 18,317 | ZONED |
55 | Covington | King | 18,298 | ZONED (Interim) |
56 | Tumwater | Thurston | 18,102 | ZONED |
57 | Battle Ground | Clark | 18,044 | NO ACTION |
58 | Bonney Lake | Pierce | 17,964 | MORATORIUM |
59 | Monroe | Snohomish | 17,503 | ZONED (Interim) |
60 | Aberdeen | Grays Harbor | 16,529 | ZONED (Interim) |
61 | Centralia | Lewis | 16,505 | MORATORIUM |
62 | Sunnyside | Yakima | 16,054 | MORATORIUM |
63 | Anacortes | Skagit | 15,928 | MORATORIUM |
64 | Washougal | Clark | 14,584 | MORATORIUM |
65 | East Wenatchee | Douglas | 13,439 | MORATORIUM |
66 | Lake Forest Park | King | 12,972 | MORATORIUM |
67 | West Richland | Benton | 12,663 | MORATORIUM |
68 | Lynden | Whatcom | 12,605 | MORATORIUM |
69 | Ferndale | Whatcom | 11,998 | MORATORIUM |
70 | Kelso | Cowlitz | 11,832 | ZONED |
71 | Port Orchard | Kitsap | 11,680 | ZONED (Interim) |
72 | Snoqualmie | King | 11,594 | NO ACTION |
73 | Enumclaw | King/Pierce | 11,327 | MORATORIUM |
74 | Woodinville | King | 11,234 | BANNED |
75 | Cheney | Spokane | 11,018 | ZONED (interim) |
For access to our interactive map and links to legislative documents please visit:
http://cannabisandsocialpolicy.org/projects/washington-local-i-502-implementation/
Please email Dr. Dominic Corva, Executive Director, with any questions.
corvad@caspcenter.org
* Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
**Population data is from the estimated 2012 population from the US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2011/files/SUB-EST2011_ALL.csv
Snoqualmie voted on April 14th to enact a moratorium, I believe for 6 months.
Great web site by the way, keep up the great work!