By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch The Town of Eatonville might renew its ban of marijuana businesses for six more months. The Town Council has scheduled a public hearing for its May 23 meeting on whether to extend the moratorium on accepting or processing applications for business licenses for recreational marijuana producers and retailers. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Eatonville Community Center. Starting in December 2014, a series of six-month moratoriums have been approved by the council. The current ban, authorized last December, is scheduled to expire June 22 unless it's prolonged by the council. No legalized marijuana businesses can be started during the moratorium periods. Town officials have been following court decisions in 2014 that gave local governments the authority to regulate or ban marijuana businesses despite a voter-approved state law (Initiative 502) that allows retail pot enterprises. No such businesses have been proposed in Eatonville since state-licensed recreational marijuana sales became legal, and town officials want it to stay that way pending the outcome of legal tests of I-502 and other issues. The town's Planning Commission recommended land-use zoning that would give state-licensed retail vendors a place to do business in Eatonville under tight restrictions. But council members have opted for the moratorium until local impacts, such as the financial impact on law enforcement, are addressed. Cities and towns want the state to share tax revenue from marijuana businesses in order to help pay for enforcement.
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