Spokane County Commission votes to renew codes on marijuana

Spokane County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to renew for six months laws governing where marijuana can be grown, processed and sold, setting up a discussion early next year about permanent pot codes.

The vote followed nearly an hour of public input in the wake of a contentious vote last week by volunteer planning commissioners to push the codes forward. County laws allow marijuana to be grown in agricultural and rural areas as long as plants are 300 feet from neighboring residences and grown on plots larger than 5 acres.

Some residents testified that the pungent odor of growing marijuana was a concern that should be addressed either by placing a moratorium on new farms in the county or requiring filtration systems on outdoor grows. The county will incorporate those suggestions into the discussion on permanent zoning codes, which will likely take place in a public forum in early 2015, commissioners said.

Some growers also testified, thanking the commission for offering them certainty by extending current law.