Alaska Marijuana News

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.

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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."

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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