Planning director proposes six-month moratorium on new cannabis operations, citing compliance gaps and state licensing conflicts

Okanogan County Planning Director Kate Palmer told the Board of Commissioners she will prepare a draft moratorium ordinance that would temporarily bar new cannabis operations in the unincorporated county while staff and stakeholders develop a work plan to address compliance and enforcement issues.

Palmer said she had met with multiple cannabis operators and learned many are willing to come into compliance but that a minority of operations remain noncompliant. She told commissioners the county needs a clear rationale to support a moratorium and a work plan tying the temporary pause to concrete next steps. Palmer said she could draft a six-month moratorium and work with counsel and staff to identify reasons (for example: lack of compliance, state licensing that ignores county objections, and public-health and land-use concerns) and follow-up actions.

Commissioners and staff raised specific compliance hurdles: several growers reported difficulty obtaining engineers or surveyors willing to sign plans for existing structures; county staff said some structures started as ag buildings under exemptions and later were used for commercial cannabis operations, creating building-code issues. Palmer said prior county efforts to codify rules had limited success and that a short moratorium would create time for a multi-stakeholder working group.

Drug task force and enforcement staff participated in the discussion later in the meeting and described limited enforcement capacity for illegal grows. Josh Pector, supervisor of the county drug task force, said task-force staffing and funding constraints limit enforcement and that more personnel would allow sustained actions against larger illegal operations. Commissioners asked Palmer to coordinate with legal counsel (Esther) and return with a draft moratorium ordinance, a list of supporting reasons, and a proposed work plan.

Ending Staff will prepare a draft six-month moratorium ordinance, include a clear statement of reasons and a work plan, and bring it back for legal review and further board consideration.