Public hearing

When: 1 p.m., today, Wednesday, Dec. 17.

Where: Room 160, Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.

More info: Visit clallam.net or contact Greg Ballard, senior planner, 565-2616.

A proposed recreational marijuana production and processing facility in an Agnew neighborhood has residents talking about options about how to oppose it.

Residents received letters in the mail about a proposed tier 1 I-502 (legalized recreational marijuana) facility called AAA Bio-Dynamic, at 162 Linderman Road. Keith Lallone is one of eight applicants to turn in an application to officials with Clallam County Department of Community Development prior to the county commissioners’ adoption of temporary ordinance Oct. 7 that tightens where I-502 producer and processors can exist.

Although county officials recognized Lallone’s application as “complete” in September before Ordinance 896 went into effect, it wasn’t until weeks following the adoption of marijuana zoning controls ordinance that county officials received some additional requested information for the application, a possible neighbor of AAA Bio-Dynamic, April Lauritzen said.

However, because the application was deemed complete by county officials, despite the lag in requested information, Lallone’s request for a tier 1 production and processing facility on a 5-acre parcel within R5 (Rural Low) zone is not subject to the interim ordinance’s requirements.

“We just got a letter in the mail notifying us of the permit request,” Lauritzen said. “I don’t know if we would have done anything about it personally, but then we realized many of the neighbors were concerned as well.”

Once surrounding residents expressed their mutual concerns related to AAA Bio-Dynamic, the neighborhood facilitated a community meeting and decided to hire an attorney to help educate them on ways to possibly keep the I-502 facility from infiltrating the neighborhood.

“My biggest concern is safety,” Lauritzen said. “I know what a sought-after product it is.”

Other concerns presented by Lauritzen and nearby residents include smell, lighting, possible impacts of property values, environmental ramifications and the desire to maintain the area’s existing rural characteristics.

Additionally, both leery neighbors and county officials note AAA Bio-Dynamic’s potential location is in the midst of Washington State Department of Ecology’s Dungeness Water Rule that restricts water use.

“While there exist workarounds for the Dungeness Water Rule, it seems the permitting of activities requiring such mitigation should be limited to those that are proven to not so negatively impact the surrounding families,” stated in a letter to Clallam County Senior Planner Greg Ballard from a potential neighbor.

Following I-502, marijuana became subject to the same water use regulations as any other commercial crop in Washington, according to officials with Department of Ecology.

Given the Liquor Control Board canopy coverage restrictions for the three tiers of marijuana production and the estimated water requirement associated with being able to adequately grow marijuana at each tier, Mike Gallagher, water resources section head for the Department of Ecology Southwest Regional, told members and the audience attending the Dungeness River Management Team meeting Wednesday, Dec. 10, that he doesn’t expect I-502 applicants around here to need water rights.

Instead Gallagher anticipates I-502 applicants within the rule area turn toward the Dungeness Water Exchange for mitigation options or potentially utilize “commercial-industrial groundwater permit exemption” which, if applicable, allows for 5,000 gallons of water per day. Based on calculations from the LCB, even the largest production scale (tier 3) allows for 21,000 square feet of canopy cover and requires an estimated 2,730 gallons of water per day.

Although the property proposed for AAA Bio-Dynamic doesn’t have a well, according the Lallone’s application, he hopes to possibly use water from a well on adjacent property, but Gallagher said there is “no evidence of water ever used for ‘commercial-industrial’ purposes under the groundwater exemption,” and thus Lallone likely will have to negotiate with the Dungeness Water Exchange to pay a mitigation fee.

However, for part of the year Lallone will have access to the Agnew Irrigation District.

Despite neighborhood concerns and possible water restrictions, DCD’s staff recommendation to the hearing examiner is to grant the requested conditional use permit, but only after the applicant meets 12 requirements that include, among others, appropriate building permits, a odor control plan and visual buffers.

Because the Washington State Liquor Control Board recently reduced the canopy coverage allowed per tier, Lallone would be limited to a maximum of 1,400 square feet of marijuana canopy to be grown within his anticipated indoor greenhouse, according to the DCD staff report.

After the public hearing today, the hearing examiner will make a decision regarding Lallone’s conditional use permit request within 10 working days.

Reach Alana Linderoth at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.