30.28.120 Marijuana Retail Requirements.
(1) A marijuana retail use shall not be located within 1,000 feet of the perimeter of the grounds of any primary or secondary school or any property owned by a school district and identified in a six-year capital facility plan for construction of a primary or secondary school.
(2) In urban zones, a marijuana retail use shall not be located within 2,500 feet of another marijuana retail use. In rural and resource zones, a marijuana retail use shall not be located within 10,000 feet of another marijuana retail use. Compliance with these separation requirements shall be determined by measuring the distance horizontally following the shortest straight line from the property line where a state-licensed marijuana retailer is located to the property line of any property, regardless of jurisdiction, where another state-licensed marijuana retailer is located.
(a) Legal nonconforming marijuana retail uses in existence on or before June 21, 2016, are exempt from the separation requirements.
(b) A marijuana retail use is exempt from the separation requirements when the following conditions have been met:
(i) The county received a Notice of Marijuana License Application for that location, site, or tax parcel from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board on or before June 21, 2016, the county did not issue a written objection to the Notice of Marijuana License Application, and no marijuana retail use existed on the site proposed in the Notice of Marijuana License Application for a marijuana retail use at any time between June 22, 2016, and March 13, 2017; or
(ii) The applicant owned real property that included the site proposed in the application or signed a lease for the site proposed in the application on or before June 21, 2016, the applicant previously operated a medical marijuana collective within the county, and no marijuana retail use existed on the site proposed in the Notice of Marijuana License Application for a marijuana retail use at any time between June 22, 2016, and March 13, 2017.
(3) No more than 32 state-licensed marijuana retail facilities shall be allowed in unincorporated Snohomish County.
(4) If two or more retail marijuana facilities are proposed to be located within 2,500 feet from each other in urban zones or within 10,000 feet from each other in rural zones, or if more than 32 marijuana retailers attempt to locate in unincorporated Snohomish County, the department shall consider "first-in-time" the marijuana retailer who has priority to site a marijuana retail use. A priority marijuana retailer shall be determined by the department using the following order of priority:
(a) An existing permitted marijuana retailer proposing to relocate shall have priority over an applicant for a new marijuana retail location;
(b) If two or more permit applications are submitted to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and determined to be complete on the same date, a "first-in-time" determination will be based on the date and time the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board issued a license or conditional license for the marijuana retail use. (Added by Amended Ord. 17-006, Feb. 15, 2017, Eff date Mar. 13, 2017; Amended by Ord. 23-009, Mar. 8, 2023, Eff date Mar. 19, 2023).