An inset from Haines’ new marijuana zoning maps, showing the 500-ft buffer where commercial marijuana businesses aren’t allowed. (Haines Borough.)


By approving new commercial zoning for marijuana, the Haines Assembly took a big step in helping new pot businesses figure out where to make the jump from blueprint to reality.


The Haines Assembly unanimously passed a new ordinance laying out where marijuana businesses can set up shop in the Borough.

The new ordinance maps areas where four types of marijuana businesses can operate: retail, cultivation (indoor and outdoor), manufacturing, and testing. More remote parts of the borough tend to be less restrictive. Many areas, especially those closer to town, still require businesses to get conditional use permits for their chosen locations.

In much of downtown Haines, retail, manufacturing, or growing won’t be allowed because of the state’s 500-foot buffer rule. Marijuana licenses can’t be issued to businesses too close to places intended for kids, such as schools and playgrounds, as well as churches and correctional facilities.

Haines is small enough that that rules out a lot. Assembly member Tom Morphet feels the buffer, which he says was designed for larger cities, hamstrings the Haines assembly.

“I think we want to have a dispensary right down where our bar district is, so regulatory authorities can keep an eye on everybody at the same time,” he says.

He points out that bars and breweries, where people actually consume alcohol, operate within those zones.

 “These dispensaries are not places where people are allowed to smoke. You’re just going in and buying — it’s more like a liquor store.”

He’d like to see the Alaska Legislature make changes in state law to adjust the boundary.

The new ordinance comes as Haines’ first marijuana cultivation businesses are successfully nearing the end of the state’s licensing process.  

Erika Merklin owns Resurrection Dreams, whose application has been given the green light by the Haines Assembly and the Alaska Marijuana Control Board. Located about 26 miles out the Haines Highway, Merklin’s business falls safely within an approved area for operations.

So does Carol Waldo’s Glacier Bay Farms, at 17 Helms Loop Spur. She’s waiting for the state to review her application again after the Haines Assembly allowed it to move forward in February.

One more cultivator and three retail stores are also at the beginning of the licensing process, awaiting review from state regulators.