Pot retailers scramble to find Pasco storefronts. When will the first one open?

There is a small-but-mighty gold rush for cannabis retail space in Pasco.

Three cannabis entrepreneurs with title certificates are signing leases and filing paperwork with the city and Washington state after the council’s vote earlier this week to lift nine-year ban.

The city ordinance takes affect five days after it’s signed by the mayor. But don’t expect to see pot stores opening next week.

It’s likely to take two to three months, say officials and the business owners.

“We’re pretty ecstatic. This is a long time coming for us,” Eric Larson, an executive with Evergreen State Investments LLC, told the Herald.

The change will roughly double the number of cannabis retail stores in Benton and Franklin counties and will add 75 to 100 jobs to the economy.

“It’s go time,” said Steve Lee, a former Kennewick councilman and co-owner of Green2Go cannabis retail with locations in Finley and Tokio, along Interstate 90 north of Ritzville.

Where will they open?

The city council voted 4-3 Monday to lift its ban on retail cannabis in six city zones, including a buffer area that will allow at least one shop to open downtown.

Mayor Blanche Barajas is expected to sign Ordinance No. 4670 into law in the few couple days, but business owners immediately began working this week to nail down lease agreements on store sites.

Larson plans to open Biggie’s Pot Shop later this summer in a “central location” in Pasco.

Steve Lee, co-owner of Green2Go cannabis retail with locations in Finley and Tokio north of Ritzville,

Lee plans to open Pasco Green2Go at a storefront in west Pasco.

Lee and Larson declined to provide exact locations, citing ongoing lease negotiations.

“Some properties have been worth less. But if they’re there in a zone without a buffer, they are worth a lot more now,” Larson said.

Retailers are mostly looking at existing storefronts and are not looking to build from scratch.

Pasco native David Morgan, who owns Spokane-based retailer Lucky Leaf Co., plans to open a shop downtown on the corner of Third and Lewis.

“It’s a pretty ideal distribution. I think the stores spreading out throughout the city will serve the city a lot better,” Lee told the Herald.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board has limited Pasco to just four retail licenses based on the city’s population.

Larson, Lee and Morgan’s companies have “title certificates” for Pasco licenses and have been waiting nearly a decade for it to drop its ban.

Title certificate holders will have six months to open a store within the jurisdiction or risk losing their retail cannabis license.

A shop must be in one of the six commercial and industrial zones that the city council approved.

And cannabis stores cannot open within a 1,000-foot buffer of a school, playground, recreational center, child care center, public park, public transit center, library or all-ages game arcade.

What is required to open?

The majority of the details to open a cannabis retail storefront will be overseen by the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Aside from zone and buffer enforcement, there are very few requirements from the city’s perspective, said Pasco City Manager Adam Lincoln.

“Council was very clear they wanted this to be a very simplified process for the business owners,” he said.

Pasco will not require a conditional use permit, which was a previous discussion point. The city already recognizes all business licenses filed with the Washington Department of Revenue, so they will not need to apply for a separate city license.

Nearby residents and property owners will be notified if a cannabis retailer plans to open up a shop in their vicinity.

This is Lee’s fourth time working on a license with the Liquor and Cannabis Board. He said the agency is incredibly scrupulous with their requirements.

In addition to qualifying themselves as licensees, business owners also need to document their cash flows and provide banking and tax information. Stores are required to carry insurance, undergo an FBI check and other requirements.

“You have to tell them literally every aspect of your life,” Lee said.

State inspectors also tests the retailers security systems.

The Liquor and Cannabis Board scrutinizes storefront layout plans down to the square inch, he said.