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Board sets hearings on draft cannabis ordinance after debate on registrations, taxes and zones
Summary
Stevens County staff presented a draft cannabis ordinance covering retail registrations, a 10% local retail tax split (80% general fund/20% LGU account), delegation of registration authority and interim‑use approaches; the board set public hearings for Oct. 15 and Nov. 5 to gather public input on caps, setbacks and locations.
Stevens County staff presented a comprehensive draft cannabis ordinance and the board set public hearings to gather public feedback on registration caps, zoning, fees and local enforcement roles.
Staff outlined the proposed local framework: a registration fee schedule (initial and renewal fees within statutory limits), a 10% county tax on retail gross receipts with 80% of that tax remitted to the state general fund and 20% to a local government cannabis aid account (split 50/50 between cities and counties under the state formula). Speaker 3 summarized the distribution: “80% of the tax collected is remitted to the general fund… 20% goes to a local government cannabis aid account.”
The draft uses interim use permits and registration to regulate uses in different zoning districts (retail permitted in business/industrial, interim use in agricultural), requires state licensing before local registration, and assigns roles for compliance checks to the sheriff and zoning compliance to staff. Staff proposed initially seeking public input on a suggested county cap of three retail registrations (with flexibility to adjust based on city delegations and public feedback).
Commissioners discussed whether to separate lower‑potency hemp edibles into a later ordinance, how temporary cannabis events and fairground uses would be handled, the municipal delegation of registration authority, and the need to align with upcoming Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) rulemaking. Several commissioners suggested leaving hemp edibles for later and focusing the October hearings on retail location, setbacks and registration caps.
The board voted to set public hearing dates for the draft ordinance on Oct. 15 at 09:30 and Nov. 5 at 09:30 and directed staff to circulate a final draft and seek public comment in advance of those dates.
Why it matters: The county’s choices on registration caps, zoning and local enforcement will determine where retail cannabis can open, how revenues are shared locally, and how the county coordinates with cities and the state OCM during the licensing rollout.
