White Salmon planning to lease property to pot retailer

That lease, which will likely go before the council for final approval in regular session in October, pertains to a 30-by-70 section of the park-and-ride that would be used by Esverdeado to operate a licensed recreational marijuana shop, according to White Salmon Mayor David Poucher. According to records kept by the state Liquor Control Board, the licensing entity for all recreational marijuana retailers in Washington, Esverdeado is listed as having a pending license at 2 Heritage Plaza Rd. in White Salmon.

Esverdeado business partners Craig Trummel, Stu Fisher, and Gage Sauter decided to try to get a license under Initiative 502, which was passed by Washington voters in 2012 and legalized the sale of recreational marijuana to adults, because the business opportunity was too good to pass up.

Esverdeado is still undergoing the licensing process through the LCB. The three business partners are awaiting the pending lease to be approved by the council before handing it off to the LCB for the go-ahead before continuing with licensing, which will include bringing in a structure, outfitting it with the security measures required by I-502, undergoing inspections by the LCB, and much more.

“I think we’ve got a lot more to go through. We’re not all the way through the licensing process yet,” Trummel said.

Under I-502, marijuana retailers must be at least 1,000 feet away from schools, parks, or any other location where children might congregate, meaning much of White Salmon is unusable for such businesses. The law permits three “at-large” marijuana retail licenses to be granted throughout Klickitat County, two of which, one in Bingen and one in Murdock, have already been taken.

One more shop is reserved for the Goldendale area, but just before a retailer there was to obtain a license recently the Goldendale City Council passed a six-month moratorium on marijuana businesses within city limits.

If the White Salmon City Council approves the lease agreement between the city and Esverdeado, the business’ partners will be able to place a structure on the south side of the park-and-ride.

“The state will let us know if we’re free to move on to the next step and then we can start drilling down into what we’re placing there and work on what we’re going to have to do inside and outside,” Trummel said.

Poucher said the council’s desire to pursue a lease agreement with Esverdeado stems from a special meeting held last October when the council decided with a tie vote not to seek a license for a city-run pot shop, but if an entity did express interest in opening a marijuana business in town they could lease property from the city. Trummel said the city was first approached with the idea of leasing to Esverdeado late last year.

“We have absolutely nothing to do with (the actual business). We’re just leasing them a piece of property,” Poucher said.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation website, the White Salmon park-and-ride has 51 parking spaces and according to Leana Johnson, clerk and treasurer for the City of White Salmon, the property is zoned RD Riverfront District. White Salmon City Administrator Pat Munyan said before the park-and-ride belonged to the city it was state property.

“Our agreement with the state says to notify them of any changes, so we sent off a letter and they never responded,” Munyan said.

The next regular meeting of the White Salmon City Council will be on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. at the city council chambers, 119 NE Church St. in White Salmon.