Pubdate: Sun, 17 Nov 2013
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Bob Young

SMALL SKAMANIA COUNTY CITY SEEKS TO OWN ITS OWN POT STORE

North Bonneville

Supporters Hope Pioneering Move Will Guarantee Control and Generate Revenue

Many cities in Washington state are trying to ban or block new 
state-regulated pot stores.

North Bonneville, population 1,005, is not one of them.

A city some see as a Chevron station just west of the Columbia 
River's Bridge of the Gods, North Bonneville not only wants a pot 
store - it wants to own a pot store.

Mayor Don Stevens figures that would give the Skamania County city 
more control of a store they're likely to get anyway - and more revenue.

"We have a longstanding relationship with law enforcement. We have a 
vested interest in maintaining the health and welfare of our 
community. And someone else who might be granted a license might not 
have the same concerns," Stevens said.

On the question of North Bonneville becoming the first Washington 
city to own a pot business, only three residents stood up and 
disagreed with the mayor at a public hearing Tuesday.

And they were pretty tame. John Mobley mostly had questions. Susie 
Strom, a drug- and alcohol-prevention coordinator, implored the City 
Council to slow down and think more about children.

Jim Goldring agreed, asking, "How can the city operate a store 
without an adverse impact on youth?"

Five residents supported the city becoming a pot dealer, some reluctantly.

"I don't want somebody coming into the community where I walk my 
6-year-old and making money off getting people high," said Rachele 
Rice. But "if it's coming here ... I want to see that money benefit 
the community."

The council voted 3-to-1 to take the pioneering step and apply for 
one of the state's 334 retail stores. Councilmember Charles Pace 
stressed that in no way was he encouraging customers to illegally 
take pot across the river to Oregon, or making a statement on 
national drug policy.

"We're doing this for North Bonneville," Pace said.

The dissenting vote came from Michael Hamilton, who said he voted to 
legalize weed last year but objects to the city getting into private business.

It's not clear that's going to be legal.

The new law allowing adults to possess small amounts of pot doesn't 
mention cities as potential license holders.

Stevens sees that as a sign North Bonneville can proceed.

A spokesman for the state agency implementing the law isn't so sure. 
Under the law, cities are the local authorities that determine what 
kind of businesses go where within their boundaries, and what local 
rules they must meet.

A city-owned pot store could create a conflict of interest, said 
Brian Smith of the Liquor Control Board.

In theory, such a city could make regulations onerous to a competing 
store in order to protect its own financial stake, Smith said.

"I don't think there's a definitive answer one way or another," Smith 
said. "The board will have to take that up if and when a city does apply."

North Bonneville officials argue that cities should be viewed more 
favorably than private pot merchants. Cities would be inclined to "to 
do the right thing instead of potentially cutting corners in the 
strict interest of the bottom line," Stevens said.

No schools

North Bonneville isn't that different from many Washington cities. 
Its residents approved legal pot, through Initiative 502 last year, 
with 54 percent of the vote, just a smidgen behind the statewide margin.

It's a timber town turned retirement-and-bedroom community, Stevens 
said. The city grew up around the nearby Bonneville Dam and most of 
its residents leave for work, many at the dam. They also commute to 
Portland and Vancouver, about an hour away.

Within the city, Bonneville Hot Springs Resort is the biggest 
employer, said Stevens, who markets fruit-snack bars in his day job 
at Gorge Delights in the city.

The city has a golf course, a disc-golf course, and three places 
where you can get a bite and a drink. But it has no schools, a factor 
in pursuing a pot store.

To the east is Hood River, Ore., a haven for skiers, windsurfers and 
potential customers for a North Bonneville pot store, another factor.

When state officials issued rules for the new legal pot system, they 
allocated stores based on population. Skamania County got just two 
stores. (King County got the most, 61.)

Some 97 percent of the county's land is owned by the state and 
federal governments. And, state law requires that no pot businesses 
be within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds and other venues 
frequented by youth.

That left few viable places in Skamania County for pot stores.

North Bonneville officials looked to Stevenson, their more 
cosmopolitan neighbor, where North Bonneville kids go to school. 
Given the 1,000-foot buffer, and Stevenson's zoning, they didn't see 
opportunities for pot merchants there.

They figured that made school-less North Bonneville a target - or an 
opportunity.

Mayor Stevens views the prohibition of marijuana as impractical. "By 
bringing it out of the shadows and making it legal, and making sure 
everyone is properly identified and checked out and adhering to those 
rules, you end up with a safer, more functional system than we 
currently have," he said.

Pot tourism

Stevens even goes so far as to suggest North Bonneville could become 
a little Amsterdam-on-the-Columbia, although he stresses it would be 
illegal for people to take pot across the river to Oregon.

"People could come here and partake and stick around. It could lead 
to tourism. We have an RV park in town. Stevenson is just 6 miles 
down the road," Stevens said, pointing to other attractions, such as 
hiking, biking and fishing.

It gives a whole new meaning to Woody Guthrie's "Roll on Columbia."

City officials have a site in mind, an industrial building just off 
Highway 14. They don't expect a windfall. A consultant estimated they 
might make $65,000 a year, once they paid the debt of creating the business.

Still, North Bonneville "is no different than any other small city," 
said the mayor. "We're counting every penny. We certainly could put 
some of that money in law enforcement," Stevens said.

The idea for the store is complicated. The cost of developing a site 
and leasing it might reach $145,000, according to city officials.

The city may lay out a little to get the project started, but hopes a 
planned public development authority (PDA) will get most of the 
funding from Internet crowdfunding, other investors, or possibly a 
city loan, which Stevens called a "last resort."

A consultant said a store could expect positive cash flow in three to 
four months and to pay off its debt a year later.

North Bonneville plans to create a separate arm of city government to 
run the store, using the PDA model that runs Seattle's Pike Place 
Market independently of the city, with its own governing board. 
Importantly, a PDA would give the city legal immunity from any 
liabilities incurred by a pot business, according to North Bonneville 
officials.

Stevens said the site the city is eyeing could accommodate a second 
pot store, and the city could lease space to the second store under 
state rules as long as it had its own entrance and exit and an 
impenetrable wall divided the two businesses. North Bonneville would 
get sales and business-and-occupation taxes from a second store, he said.

But first the city has to hurry to meet a 30-day application window 
that opens Monday. Then the Liquor Control Board needs to approve its 
application. And then the city must create the public development 
authority and raise funds, all in hopes of opening a store by next fall.

"It's an all-hands-on-deck proposition," said City Attorney Ken 
Woodrich of the effort required.

As of Tuesday night, seven residents had volunteered for the 
five-member PDA board of directors.

Still, North Bonneville could get shut out. If more than two 
qualified applicants seek a store in Skamania County, the state plans 
to use a lottery to pick the winners.

"Anyone not nervous isn't paying attention," Stevens said of the 
city's historic endeavor.

Nearby White Salmon, in Klickitat County, considered following North 
Bonneville's footsteps. But it's pretty certain they're not going to 
move forward, said Wood-rich, also the city attorney for White Salmon.

"I've never smoked marijuana, but I do know it's coming, I know this 
is a city with all types of financial issues. It may be one of the 
craziest ideas we've ever come up with," said resident Cheryl 
Jarmenn. "So be it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom