Pubdate: Thu, 19 May 2016
Source: Bulletin, The (Bend, OR)
Copyright: 2016 Western Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bendbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/62
Author: Kailey Fisicaro, The Bulletin

BEND COUNCIL LOOKS AT ALLOWING POT PROCESSING IN THE CITY

Marijuana Production, Growing And Extraction Could Be Permitted In
Makers District

Marijuana dispensaries may soon be treated more like other businesses
in Bend.

The Bend City Council discussed a number of changes Wednesday night
that may affect marijuana businesses. Council members read a few
potential amendments to the Bend development code and the city code
that relate to marijuana businesses and approved the first reading of
those amendments.

Back in December, the council adopted regulations for marijuana
businesses. State Senate Bill 1511 was later adopted in February. The
bill allows recreational marijuana licensees to register with the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission to produce, process, transfer or sell
marijuana for medical purposes too.

The proposed amendments to Bend development code address changes the
bill made. Some of the changes are in how the code defines terms in
marijuana business. Council members discussed changing the phrase
"marijuana recreational retailer" to "marijuana retailer" since they
can now sell pot for both medical and recreational purposes . They
also discussed changing how "marijuana producing" is defined in the
code since a business can now produce both medical and recreational
marijuana through OLCC licensing.

City Council members also discussed permitting marijuana production,
growing and extractions in "mixed employment districts," which are
meant to offer a "broad mix of uses," according to the city. Bend's
Makers District is considered such a district and would be included in
the potential amendment. The Makers District, a rectangular area
roughly bordered by the Bend Parkway on the west, Third Street on the
east, and NE Olney and Greenwood avenues to the north and south, is
home to a range of businesses from Humm Kombucha to Natural Edge Furniture.

A landowner there wants to lease a warehouse for marijuana production
by Atom Technical Services LLC.

Wednesday, Schuyler Blake, chief financial officer for Atom Technical
Services, spoke on behalf of allowing processes like extraction in the
Makers District and other mixed employment districts like it.

The "small, local company" was born in Bend, he said.

"We'd like to maintain our position here in Bend," Blake said.
"Basically we just want to be a good neighbor and a good business
proposition in Bend."

An architect and chemist working with Atom Technical Services also
came to speak in favor of the amendment.

"What we're going to end up doing is improving the property," Brian
Roberts of Brian Roberts Architecture based in Hillsboro said. "Right
now it has no water and no sewer ... it has no sidewalks ... it will
. it's going to have landscaping and all the things you would expect
to see on any project."

There will also be a 6-foot chain-link fence there around
property.

Ken White, a chemist with the company, originally from Central Oregon,
worked at Bend Research for a while before he got "scooped up in the
cannabis industry," he said. He spoke in support of allowing such
processes in mixed-employment districts .

Following questions from Mayor Jim Clinton about whether the cannabis
extraction process is hazardous enough that it should be kept in an
industrial zone, White explained that the process is similar to how
other essential oils are extracted.

As for whether the process would expel a smell in the area, White said
there are layers of filtration that "knock out" almost all of the
smell before it's run through an exhaust system out of the building.

Michael Hughes, a Bend-based attorney who specializes in marijuana
laws, was a member of the city's Marijuana Technical Advisory
Committee. He stepped forward at Wednesday's council meeting to speak
in favor of the amendment as well, explaining he thinks the production
and processing would be consistent and fit in with the Makers District
goals.

Councilors unanimously agreed to amend the ordinance to Bend
Development Code on a first reading.

A separate item on marijuana allowed council members to discuss
amendments to city code affecting marijuana businesses that included
making building code and fire code, among other requirements, more
similar to how other businesses are treated. Council members voted to
amend the ordinance in its first reading, which also will mean adding
fees for license renewals that are late.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D