Thurston County Commission amends interim pot regulations

The Thurston County Commission unanimously voted 3-0 on Tuesday to approve a series of amendments to the county’s interim zoning regulations on where state-licensed marijuana can be grown, processed and sold.

According to Mike Kain, a land use planning manager for the county’s Resource Stewardship Department, the changes will:

County commissioners first adopted interim zoning regulations in November 2013. More amendments, including ones that involve medical marijuana operations, will likely take place before the county’s final set of regulations is adopted, Kain said.

He said the new regulations won’t affect existing recreational pot operations and those tied to applications that have already been submitted, or vested, with the county. Since June 25, the county has received nine new applications for pot growing or processing businesses, Kain told the commissioners.

Commission chairwoman Cathy Wolfe said the county’s interim marijuana regulations were meant to change and fluctuate in an industry that was legalized a year ago in Washington state.

“We’re doing this by design because things are changing with the Legislature and the world out there,” she said. “... It’s not just because we can’t get our minds made up.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Thurston County Commission amends interim pot regulations."