Pubdate: Fri, 29 May 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Copyright: 2015 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Dermot Cole

FAIRBANKS DRAFTS ZONING RULES FOR COMMERCIAL MARIJUANA OPERATIONS

FAIRBANKS -- Before Alaska marijuana businesses open their doors, 
owners will need to know they are growing, testing or selling on land 
zoned for those activities, local government leaders here say, and 
residents deserve to know in advance what might or might not be 
allowed in their neighborhoods.

The state has yet to resolve some key questions about marijuana 
regulation following voter approval of the legalization initiative 
last November, but local governments have powers under the measure to 
establish regulations on commercial activities, though they cannot 
prohibit personal use.

The borough released multicolored community maps Wednesday showing 
neighborhoods where different types of marijuana businesses would be 
permitted, prohibited or only allowed under certain circumstances. 
The maps are in draft form, based on ground rules to be debated this 
summer and fall.

"We're trying to have something that works for the community and 
works for the commercialization of marijuana," Fairbanks North Star 
Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins told the crowd of about 100 at the Pioneer 
Park civic center.

Hopkins said the borough does not want to misdirect people into 
making "investments in the wrong areas," and zoning rules are 
safeguards for businesses and the public.

In a community where land-use planning has traditionally been a hard 
sell until after conflicts arise, marijuana legalization has 
increased awareness that clear zoning rules will lessen, but not 
eliminate, the potential for neighborhood battles.

The draft zoning plan would keep marijuana businesses out of 
residential areas and allow retail establishments in parts of the 
city, but not within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and public 
housing areas where there are children. There would be a 500-foot 
separation between marijuana businesses and post-secondary facilities 
and a 100-foot separation from residential zones.

The downtown business district of Fairbanks, east and west of Cushman 
Street, would be open to retail businesses, as would areas to the 
south of the city and elsewhere on the outskirts of town.

On tracts of land zoned for agricultural, industrial, general use or 
commercial purposes, growing marijuana would be allowed in some 
cases, depending upon the size of the lot and the amount under 
cultivation. In some cases, the grower would need a conditional-use 
permit from the borough, which would lead to a public hearing and a 
vote by the planning commission. Testing facilities for marijuana 
would be permitted only in commercial, industrial and general use zones.

One of the quirks with local zoning is that about 97 percent of the 
borough is zoned for general use, a category that was once known as 
"unrestricted use" and could be more accurately dubbed "nearly 
unrestricted use."

Assembly member Guy Sattley predicted there would be resistance from 
people who live in general-use areas to having marijuana facilities 
added to the short list of activities that require a public hearing 
and permit. Among other things, the current rules require hearings to 
establish a landfill, an adult entertainment facility, a 
petrochemical plant and a nuclear power plant.

A draft zoning ordinance is expected to be reviewed by the Borough 
Planning Commission this summer and forwarded to the Borough Assembly 
in the fall, Hopkins said. Thirteen elected officials from the three 
local governments attended the session to hear questions and offer their views.

Citizens offered supportive comments for the effort to plan ahead for 
establishments expected to be licensed under state rules by next May.

Brandon Emmett, a member of the board of the Coalition for 
Responsible Cannabis Legislation, said Fairbanks has a chance to be 
at the "forefront of the marijuana industry in Alaska."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom