Airway Heights, WA Zoning Ordinance

City Zoning.

Collective Gardens and Unlicensed Cannabis Dispensaries. Collective gardens and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries are prohibited in all land use zones within the jurisdictional boundaries of Airway Heights.

Cooperative Gardens.

Medical cannabis cooperative gardens are limited to residential zoned properties, or to those properties with an existing, allowed, nonconforming residential structure located on commercial or industrial zoned properties.

No person may conduct business within the City as a facility for delivery of medical cannabis produced by a cooperative garden for the general public. Only the registered members of the cooperative may receive cannabis products from the cooperative garden, whether delivered to the person at their location or whether picked up by the member at the cooperative garden site.

No medical cannabis cooperative gardens shall be permitted on properties less than 6,000 square feet in size. Cooperative gardens are not permitted in multifamily, duplex, or any other residential unit that abuts, is attached to, or has less than 10 feet of separation between units.

A medical cannabis cooperative garden shall not be permitted to locate along Highway 2 (Sunset Highway).

A medical cannabis cooperative garden shall not be located within 1,000 feet of the perimeter of the grounds of any of the following entities. The owner or operator of the medical cannabis cooperative garden shall have the responsibility to demonstrate that the cooperative garden is not within the 1,000-foot perimeter of:

Any other licensed medical cannabis cooperative garden operator or delivery site;

ii.

Any cannabis processor or producer licensed by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board;

iii.

Elementary or secondary school;

iv.

Playground;

Recreational center or facility;

vi.

Child care center;

vii.

Public park;

viii.

Public transportation center;

ix.

Library; or

Any game arcade where admission is not restricted to persons age 21 or older.

Medical cannabis cooperatives are prohibited within one mile of a Washington State licensed cannabis retail store.

State-Licensed Cannabis Producers, Processors and Retailers.

No person may conduct business within the City of Airway Heights as a state-licensed cannabis producer, processor or retailer unless they are located within the appropriate zones, C-2 general commercial, I-1 light industrial, and I-2 heavy industrial zoned properties in accordance with this title and licensed under this chapter.

A state-licensed cannabis producer or processor is classified as an agricultural processing plant, warehouse land use as described in Chapter 17.05 AHMC, Zoning Matrix. Agricultural processing plant, warehouse uses are limited, as provided in Table 17.05, to C2 general commercial subject to the limitations listed in subsections (A)(3)(b)(i)(A) through (C) of this section, I-1 light industrial and I-2 heavy industrial zoned properties.

A state-licensed cannabis producer and processor may locate in a C2 general commercial zone under the following conditions:

(A)

The property shares a property boundary with an I-2 heavy industrial zoned property without an intervening public right-of-way; and

(B)

The property as measured from its outermost boundary shall be a minimum of 1,000 feet from a property with a residential use as of December 1, 2020; and

(C)

All portions of the operation shall be no further than 1,000 feet from an I-2 heavy industrial zoned property boundary without an intervening public right-of-way.

A state-licensed cannabis retailer shall only locate in C-2 general commercial, I-1 light industrial and I-2 heavy industrial zoned properties.

A state-licensed cannabis retailer shall not be permitted to front along Highway 2 (Sunset Highway). To "front" on Highway 2 means that the entrance to the facility borders and faces Highway 2. Structures located along Highway 2 may qualify for this use if the following are in place:

The structure meets current local, building, and fire codes for the proposed use, or will meet those requirements at time of occupancy; and

ii.

The unit is part of a multi-unit structure, such as a "strip-mall," that has a north/south orientation perpendicular to Highway 2 and entrances facing either east or west; or

iii.

The unit is located at an intersection of Highway 2 and a north/south oriented street, and all egress and ingress to the site, and into the structure, can be reoriented to face the north/south oriented street, and all Highway 2 oriented public access points for the site and structure are removed.

A state-licensed cannabis producer, processor or retailer may not be located within 1,000 feet of the perimeter of the grounds of any of the following entities. The owner or operator of the state-licensed cannabis producer, processor and retailer shall have the responsibility to demonstrate that the state-licensed cannabis producer, processor and retailer is not within the 1,000-foot perimeter:

Elementary or secondary school;

ii.

Playground;

iii.

Recreational center or facility;

iv.

Child care center;

Public park;

vi.

Public transportation center;

vii.

Library; or

viii.

Any game arcade where admission is not restricted to persons age 21 or older.

Waste products must be disposed of in a secure manner that would prevent exposure to the public or create a nuisance.

Measurement.

The measurement of the separation distance in subsections (A)(2)(e) and (3)(e) of this section shall be taken in a straight line from the point on the property line of the protected uses specified in subsections (A)(2)(e) and (3)(e) of this section closest to the production and processing facility, collective garden or retail outlets to the nearest physical point of the tenant space or structure housing a production or processing or retailer outlet or collective garden.

A protected use specified in subsections (A)(2)(e) and (3)(e) of this section shall not benefit from the separation requirements of this subsection if the use chooses to locate within the required separation distance from a lawfully located production or processing facility, collective garden or retailer outlet.

(Ord. C-834 § 16, 2014; Ord. C-846 § 11, 2015; Ord. C-953 § 1, 2020)

Airway Heights City Zoning Code

CHAPTER 17

§ 17.14.010 Purpose.

§ 17.14.020 Description.

§ 17.14.030 Regulations for a medical cannabis collective garden, cooperative garden, and state-licensed cannabis producers, processors and retailers.