Two months after Woodland opened its doors to recreational marijuana growers and processors, Mayor Grover Laseke rejected the city’s first viable applicant for a pot business license.
In December, the Woodland City Council voted 5-1 to allow growing and processing in a small industrial sector of the city west of the railroad tracks. Soon after, Gregory Bowyer, from Ridgefield, applied to start his own business in the city as a Tier 1 producer and processer.
The state allowed the city to intervene in the approval process, and though Laseke said Bowyer’s business would meet location and zoning rules, he sent Bowyer a letter turning down the proposal. The reason: Woodland’s municipal code prohibits the city from issuing business licenses for anything that violates federal, state or city law, Laseke said.
“I discussed this with the City Council in one of our workshops, so they’re aware that I was going to deny this business license,” he said.
Bowyer said he was shocked by the decision.
“Originally, they had told us that this wasn’t going to be an issue, and then I guess their city attorney changed their mind,” he said. “Nobody’s going to jail. It’s a business license like any other.”
Bowyer’s still interested in opening the business, and Laseke said the issue’s still on the table. The council just needs to update the law, and he plans to reopen the conversation at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
“If I was to be a betting person, I’d say the City Council’s going to consider that,” Laseke said. “Although it’s not a unanimous thing, I believe there’s a possibility that the ordinance will be changed.”
Councilor Al Swindell — one of the city’s most vocal supporters of allowing growing and processing during the council’s discussions in December — said he understands Laseke’s concern, but he disagrees with the decision.
“I just think it’s searching for a problem,” Swindell said. “It just seems that we need to get beyond this. We have had multiple hearings on this issue for years.”
Congress took a notably lenient stance on pot in December, passing a bill that ensured states with medical marijuana would no longer be subject to federal drug raids in pot stores. Swindell saw the move as an OK to start loosening up pot regulations at the local level.
“They said they will not be raiding retail operations and that kind of thing,” he said. “I think the council would like to move beyond this, quite frankly.”
