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Resident urges reopening of retail marijuana store '420'; council and staff outline zoning limits
Summary
A resident asked the council to reopen the retail marijuana store known as 420 and said the store is the source of medicine for a friend with cancer. City officials explained Woodland currently lacks a zoning category allowing retail marijuana and that a zoning change would go to the planning commission then council.
A Woodland resident asked the City Council on April 21 to facilitate reopening the retail marijuana store referred to as "420," saying the shop supplies medicine for a friend with cancer and that reopening within walking distance is important.
Mayor Corina Dinehart and planning staff told the resident that Woodland currently has no zoning district that permits retail marijuana sales. Mayor Dinehart said a site the resident described was sitting in a C-1 zoning designation and that Woodland does not have permitting or zoning that allows retail marijuana in C-1 or C-2 zones; she said changing zoning requires review by the planning commission and then council.
The resident said he wanted the store reopened wherever it lawfully can be located, including in neighboring Kelso if necessary, and emphasized immediate access to medicine: "I don't care where we reopen it. I need to get medicine because my friend has cancer. The medicine is in that store." The resident also acknowledged the store had opened without a proper business license and said he intended to work with city staff to correct violations.
Planning staff present (identified in the meeting as Travis Goddard) was cited as the staff contact for zoning questions. Mayor Dinehart told the resident the next steps would involve staff explaining the applicable regulations and, if a zoning change were desired, routing a proposal to the planning commission and then back to council for action.
Why it matters: the exchange highlights a tension between resident access to regulated retail products and land-use limits: Woodland currently has no zoning district that allows retail marijuana sales in its existing code, so a store cannot legally operate within the city unless regulations or zoning change.
No formal action was taken at the council meeting; the discussion occurred during citizen communications and the mayor's responses were informational about process.
