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Director's office recommends denying petition to expand outdoor canopy for Tier 2 cannabis producers
Summary
Staff recommended denying a petition from Eagle Trees Farms to increase Tier 2 outdoor canopy from 10,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft, citing oversupply concerns from the Whitney Economic and JLARC reports and noting petitioners can seek a Tier 3 license instead.
The director's office recommended denying a petition that would expand allowable outdoor canopy for Tier 2 cannabis producers from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet, a staff representative told the Liquor and Cannabis Board caucus on June 30.
Daniel, speaking for the director's office, said: "the director's office is recommending denying this petition for rulemaking because increasing canopy would likely exacerbate oversupply issues of cannabis that have been identified in the Whitney Economic and JLARC reports," and noted petitioners can pursue a Tier 3 license that already allows up to 30,000 square feet.
The petition, submitted May 5 by Jessica Strait and Kenny Ingebrigtsen on behalf of Eagle Trees Farms, sought to amend WAC 314.55075 section 6 to permit Tier 2 sun growers to use up to 30,000 square feet of canopy. Daniel summarized the petitioners' five main arguments: previous tier expansions, prior floor-plan approvals, environmental differences between indoor and outdoor growers, a 2023 interpretive statement the petitioners view as retroactive noncompliance, and the recent declaratory-order denial that the petitioners interpret as support for further rulemaking.
Daniel rejected those arguments in the staff recommendation: he said the Tier 1 expansion years earlier represented a much smaller per-producer increase, that floor-plan approval does not equate to canopy entitlement, that current rules do not distinguish indoor from outdoor growers so an environmental advantage alone would not necessarily justify a rule change, and that the declaratory-order denial instead indicated formal rulemaking would be the appropriate avenue for any such change — not that a change was warranted. He also noted that producers seeking 30,000 square feet may obtain a Tier 3 license through existing processes.
Next steps: the staff recommendation to deny the petition will be presented for the board's consideration at the full meeting.
