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The Skagway Borough Assembly Thursday adopted zoning regulations for legal marijuana businesses.
The code changes classify in which zoning districts marijuana businesses are allowed. Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Orion Hanson said the planners wanted to err on the side of conditional use in most areas.
That means someone hoping to start a marijuana-related establishment would need to apply to the planning commission for a conditional use permit.
The four types of marijuana establishments the code addresses are retail, cultivation, product manufacturing and testing facilities.
The only area where all pot businesses are prohibited is the waterfront district.
The areas they are conditionally permitted are residential conservation, residential low-density, business general, and business historic.
In residential general areas, indoor cultivation and product manufacturing and testing facilities are conditionally permitted. Retail and outdoor cultivation facilities are not allowed.
The zones with the most relaxed restrictions are industrial and industrial light. In industrial areas, cultivation, manufacturing and testing businesses are allowed without a permit. Only retail facilities are conditionally permitted. For industrial light, retail and cultivation are the only two types of businesses that need conditional use permits.
The assembly unanimously approved the zoning changes. The members agreed that the waterfront area should be off-limits, but other zones shouldn’t put strict limits on the new market of legalized marijuana.
