Retail marijuana stores will be allowed in waterfront commercial districts once those businesses are legally allowed to begin conducting business in Juneau, the City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission voted Tuesday. After tabling the issue earlier this month, the commission forwarded the ordinance to the Assembly for consideration.

The commission voted without objection Tuesday even though the issue had been a significant source of debate the first time the commission discussed marijuana zoning. A similar motion had already failed because it didn’t have enough votes to pass.

The first time the Planning Commission tried to tackle this issue, it was unable to agree what to do with the ordinance due to poor attendance. The nine-person commission was missing two of its members, and a procedural rule requiring five affirmative votes to pass a motion forced the commission to table the issue after it failed to pass several motions.

Tuesday was a different story altogether. Even with one member absent, the commission moved swiftly through discussion of the ordinance before passing one amendment and, ultimately, moving the measure to the Assembly.

The commission didn’t move quite as easily past another topic of contention left over from its last meeting, though. Commission member Nicole Grewe motioned to remove D1 residential districts from the list of zones in which marijuana cultivation facilities can operate. The motion failed, as did a similar motion she made at the last meeting.

“We’ve learned from other jurisdictions that residential zones were the number one conflict, and if they could go back, they wouldn’t allow cultivation in residential areas,” Grewe said, encouraging a more “conservative” approach. “In the long run it is easier to add zones back in once we know what this industry looks like in Juneau.”

Fellow commission member Dennis Watson spoke in opposition to Grewe’s motion, pointing out that adding zones back in isn’t an easy process. Once the table of permissible uses is amended, “it’s pretty nigh impossible to change,” he said.

“I think we need to allow the Planning Commission a certain amount of flexibility,” Watson said. “We need to be careful that we don’t potentially concentrate this into too small an area.”

The ordinance amends the city’s Land Use Code adding “new use categories” to the Table of Permissible Uses for marijuana businesses. The table is a section within the Land Use Code that designates what type of businesses can operate in each zone. Adding categories specific to marijuana businesses should make the permitting process more straightforward, according to Chrissy McNally, a planner with the Community Development Department.

“The other categories, the broader categories, were too broad for marijuana businesses, and we wanted to limit that type of use,” McNally said.

The ordinance adds five new categories to the Table of Permissible Uses — one for each type of marijuana business, as defined by the state Marijuana Control Board. These determine which type of permit the businesses will need and where they are able to operate. The ordinance requires all marijuana businesses to obtain conditional use permits.

“The main thing is that this primarily helps keep marijuana businesses out of residential districts,” McNally said.

The ordinance, which will now go before the full Assembly for consideration, originated in the city’s Marijuana Committee. It was then passed to the Planning Commission and revised by the commission’s Title 49 subcommittee. The Community Development Department advised each committee along the way.

Zones in which each type of marijuana business can operate:
Marijuana Retail Stores:
Rural Reserve
Light Commercial
General Commercial
Mixed Use

Marijuana Testing Facilities:
Rural Reserve
Light Commercial
General Commercial
Mixed Use
Mixed Use Two
Industrial

Marijuana Product Manufacturing:
Rural Reserve
General Commercial
Mixed Use
Industrial

Marijuana Cultivation:
Rural Reserve
D1 Residential
Light Commercial
General Commercial
Industrial

• Contact city reporter Sam DeGrave at 523.2279 or at sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.