Estacada council moves to tighten odor rules, make processing conditional and refer production ban to voters

Estacada — The City Council voted to direct staff to pursue three parallel steps to address ongoing complaints about odor and other impacts from cannabis operations in the city's industrial area: (1) draft code amendments to increase odor control requirements and inspections and to update cannabis definitions; (2) prepare a text amendment that would reclassify cannabis processing as a conditional use in the industrial zone; and (3) prepare ballot measure language for a prohibition on new cannabis production, to be referred to voters at the next statewide general election with a delayed effective date tied to license-renewal timing.

Council took the actions after a public hearing that included staff, attorneys, business owners and residents discussing odor, enforcement and state licensing rules. The city's interim legal team and staff emphasized uncertainty about how the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) would treat renewals if the city adopted a ban.

Why it matters: Councilors said they wanted to…