The Crew Law Firm of Elma turned up en masse Wednesday evening at an Aberdeen City Council public hearing to speak in favor of allowing retail sale of recreational pot in Aberdeen in commercial areas.
The proposed ordinance would allow pot sales, production and processing in Light Industrial and Industrial parts of the city. It extends retail sales to two additional zones: Downtown Commercial and General Commercial zones. The ordinance bans medical marijuana collective gardens.
Chris Crew, who said he is attorney for the “Marijuana League,” thanked the City Council for its support of the measure and talked about how pot businesses will bring high-wage jobs to the area.
His colleague at the firm, Drew Mazzeo, noted how “extremely regulated” the industry is and said moving pot sales into commercial areas of the city would take operations out of shady parts of town.
Mazzeo said he applauded the council’s decision to move forward as did a woman from the firm calling herself “Jane,” who spoke passionately in favor, saying it would change the lives of young people who want to return to the Harbor.
Councilwoman Kathi Hoder said the reason the council was set to approve the measure is because the state’s law allowing recreational use of pot was overwhelmingly approved in all six of Aberdeen’s wards. Hoder, along with councilwomen Margo Shortt and Alice Phelps, tried and failed to amend the ordinance to remove pot sales from commercial areas at the last city council meeting.
No one from the public spoke against the proposed city ordinance. The final vote on pot zoning is slated for the council’s April 23 meeting.
Erin Hart, 360-537-3932, ehart@thedailyworld.com. Twitter: @DW_Erin
No comments:
Post a Comment