Will strip clubs and marijuana dispensaries be allowed in downtown Umatilla? The Umatilla City Council will answer that question tonight.
On May 4, the Umatilla City Council considered a new zoning ordinance, the result of five months of work by the Umatilla Planning Commission. Facing questions on the hefty document – close to 100 pages long – the council voted to hold off on a decision until its next council meeting: tonight.
Additional public testimony may be allowed at the discretion of the council.
If approved, the ordinance will also end the city’s moratoriums on adult businesses and medical marijuana dispensaries.
The process began in July 2014 after the opening of a new strip club within the city. Residents and elected officials began to comment that the city’s perception was being defined by “questionable” businesses, including strip clubs, smoke shops and potential marijuana dispensaries. The city put in moratoriums on adult businesses and medical marijuana dispensaries in order to develop a new plan and regulations for business development in the city.
Boyd Sharp, planning commission chairman, said the commission first looked at what it wanted the downtown area to look like and what businesses the residents of Umatilla would like in the downtown area. They then expanded out to cover the rest of the city and urban growth boundary.
“Each of these zones now have a description of what we think the city wants this zone to look like,” Sharp said. “You could fine tune this forever, but I think we needed to put something into place… We balanced what we felt was a need with what the citizens of Umatilla wanted.
If approved, the ordinance will add new zones and establish the types of businesses allowed in each area. City Planner Bill Searles said the system gave “flexibility but also more certainty” for each zone.
Adult businesses – including strip clubs – and medical marijuana businesses are limited to “highway commercial” zones. The ordinance does not impact existing businesses.
At the May 5 meeting, Umatilla resident Steve Rodarte spoke out against the decision to treat adult businesses and medical marijuana dispensaries similarly.
“(Medical marijuana) wasn’t the task at hand. Adult businesses and medical marijuana are not the same thing,” he said. “This doesn’t sound like it’s making it very easy to make it legal and safe. This sounds like the opposite.”
Rodarte proposed medical marijuana be allowed in the downtown commercial districts as well, saying the highway commercial zoning limits the businesses to expensive or undeveloped property near the intersection of Highway 730 and Highway 395. Rodarte pointed out because of existing regulations – primarily that medical marijunana cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school – the businesses would be limited to an area of downtown near the Umatilla River and the Umatilla Police Department.
“At the end of the day, if we allowed it into commercial zones, would it really hurt our way of life?” he asked. “I hope I’m not too late. At the end of the day, I don’t think it fits.”
The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Umatilla City Hall. The zoning ordinance is the only action item on the agenda.
