Lakewood planning commission adopts staff-recommended rules for alcohol production and sales

The Lakewood Planning Commission on Nov. 19 accepted staff-recommended updates to the city's land-use table and definitions governing alcohol production and sales, after a staff presentation showing few police calls for service tied to standing bars.

Planning and Public Works Director Jeff Remack told commissioners that in 2024 the city recorded 49,810 police calls for service and 62 were to alcohol establishments. "So when you look at the total number of calls, it is point 001% of all calls for service are related to bars," Remack said, and he added that 2025 year-to-date calls to the same locations total 49 and are trending lower.

Remack said staff reviewed state law, Liquor and Cannabis Board regulations and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) provisions and found no standard practice in other jurisdictions for creating buffer setbacks between bars and day-care centers or schools. He noted an "alcohol impact area" designation does exist in state administrative code for chronic public-drinking locations but said Lakewood would not meet that threshold.

Under the proposed code changes approved by the commission, breweries would be a permitted use in neighborhood commercial, the central business district, commercial zones, industrial zones and in MF-3 when annotated for the station subarea. Distilleries would be permitted in neighborhood commercial, central business district, commercial and industrial zones. Bars and taverns would be permitted uses only in traffic-oriented commercial, central business district and commercial zones. Staff also consolidated several specific categories (microbreweries/brewpubs and small craft distilleries) into broader "breweries" and "distilleries" classifications to align planning definitions with Liquor and Cannabis Board licensing.

Remack reviewed a related parking standard added to the code: "2 spaces per 500 gross feet of floor area." He described the package as intended to support redevelopment in commercial districts, advance economic-development goals and remove regulatory barriers.

After the presentation, Commissioner (Speaker 2) moved that the commission accept the alcohol production and sales use locations and regulations as recommended by staff; Chair (Speaker 1) seconded. Commissioners recorded two explicit "aye" votes in the meeting transcript and no opposition was voiced; staff said they would provide the signed resolution document to the chair.

The commission's adoption means the proposed zoning and definition changes will move forward for signature and implementation steps described by staff. Staff indicated the item could have been returned for action at the next regular meeting if commissioners had preferred more time, but the commission voted to proceed that night.

Authorities referenced during the presentation included state law, Liquor and Cannabis Board regulations and relevant provisions of the Washington Administrative Code related to alcohol-impact-area designations. Staff said only Spokane, Everett and Seattle in Washington have used the alcohol-impact-area process.

The commission and staff noted next steps: staff will prepare the resolution package for signature and bring any remaining implementation details to future meetings as needed.