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Residents urge county to protect youth-activity funds from stadium use and to resolve Clearview cannabis zoning that has kept a store closed
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Summary
Two in-person public-commenters told the Snohomish County Council to tell Everett not to use youth activity account funds for a new professional stadium and asked the county to fix a Clearview zoning buffer change that has kept a cannabis retailer closed for more than a year, costing jobs and tax revenue.
During the public-comment period at the March 2026 Snohomish County Council meeting, two residents urged the council to act on separate local concerns: one asked the county to discourage Everett from using youth activity-account funds for a professional stadium, and the other asked the council for a concrete timeline to fix a zoning discrepancy that has kept a Clearview-area cannabis store closed.
John Martin (S4), a Mountlake Terrace resident, read a county-version resolution and asked the council to encourage the City of Everett to find funding for a new professional stadium from sources other than the youth activity account. Martin cited local parks funded by that account—Evergreen Playfield and Tennis Courts in Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds Civic Center Playfield, Meadowdale Beach Park in Edmonds, and South Lindenwood Playfield in Lynnwood—and told the council those facilities were intended for youth activities. "Please don't use that money for the parks. Find other funding so the money can go to the parks and help kids instead of go to professional baseball stadiums," Martin said.
Patrick Gann (S5), a Clearview resident and local business owner, said his Clearview cannabis location has been closed for more than 13 months after a zoning change applied a 10,000-foot buffer in the Clearview Rural Commercial Zone while the buffer remained 2,500 feet elsewhere in the county. Gann said the closure has real economic consequences: he estimated the location would generate roughly $200,000 per month in cannabis tax revenue and said that over 13 months the county has missed "well over $2,600,000 in lost tax revenue." He told the council his store supports 14 full‑time jobs at $25 per hour, that he has personally invested more than $200,000 in the location, and that he is operating under a temporary licensing extension from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (which he said he has discussed with director William Lucala). Gann asked the council for a specific date and path to reopen the store; he said staff had previously discussed an emergency code adjustment to return Clearview to the 2,500-foot buffer used elsewhere.
The chair closed public comment after confirming there were no online participants. The transcript records no immediate council action in response to these comments during the meeting.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Both items were recorded in public comment; council staff or relevant departments would need to provide follow-up for any formal actions (no follow-up motion or vote was recorded in this session).
