Voters on the Kenai Peninsula may decide whether to ban commercial marijuana within the borough, should an Assembly ordinance move forward.
On Tuesday, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will hear public testimony on the ordinance and hold a vote to introduce it. The ordinance is sponsored by Assembly President Blaine Gilman, who said Monday he expects a large public turnout and lengthy testimony Tuesday evening.
Under the ordinance, voters would decide whether to ban all four marijuana license types -- growers, retail stores, manufacturers and testing facilities -- in the borough.
The 2014 statewide vote to commercialize marijuana was "real close" on the Peninsula, Gilman said, so he wants to bring the issue back before borough voters.
Cities on the Peninsula, including Homer and Kenai, would not be affected by the ban. Soldotna's city council has already banned commercial marijuana through January 2018. In Homer, a petition has been filed that would also ask voters to decide on a ban in October's election.
The Kenai borough already has local laws in place that would regulate the industry, including specifying hours of operation and setting a school buffer zone at 1,000 feet. Gilman was part of the Marijuana Task Force that studied the industry.
"I did vote for the regulations because we needed some sort of regulations in the void," Gilman said.
Paul Ostrander, chief of staff in the borough mayor's office, said he was "a little surprised" when he first heard about the ordinance given the substantial work to create the regulations.
"The timing could have been better," Ostrander said.
Gilman said he drafted the ordinance after hearing "strong testimony" against commercialization during public comment about a zoning ordinance in February and March.
"There are people who live outside the cities that are very concerned," Gilman said.
"Why it took them a year (to speak out) I don't know, but they're becoming vocal," he added later.
The ordinance came as a surprise to Marc Theiler, a potential marijuana business owner who also sat on the borough's Marijuana Task Force, he wrote in a Facebook message Monday.
Theiler called the ordinance "sneaky" and "underhanded."
"Our Task Force worked diligently to provide the Assembly with reasonable, workable tools. We convened for nearly a year and entertained countless public comment," most of which was pro-industry, Theiler wrote.
"Good people are investing their life savings and pouring their heart and souls into their marijuana startup, and Gilman thinks nothing of these small business owners." Theiler wrote.
Theiler, who hopes to open a retail store within Kenai city limits, said his business would not be affected save having to purchase marijuana from cultivators outside of the borough.
Gilman said that starting a marijuana business is a "risky venture" and noted that local governments have the right to opt out of commercialization.
Gilman is personally against both the commercialization and legalization of marijuana, he said Monday afternoon. Should his ordinance be put on the ballot, "I suspect that voters outside the cities will defeat commercial marijuana," he said.
The Assembly will hear testimony and vote on introducing the ordinance Tuesday. Should the ordinance be introduced, it would be up for another public hearing and vote on May 3. It would then be placed on the Oct. 4 ballot.