The Seattle City Council’s Finance and Housing Committee is hearing an update Tuesday morning on the city’s social justice initiatives to help reshape equity in Seattle’s small business communities. A long-delayed effort to bring a more equitable mix of owners into the city’s legal cannabis economy is in the mix.
2021 started with delayed efforts as an 18-member Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force dug in on work to ensure communities that were heavily policed during the war on drugs can gain a foothold in the state’s legal pot market.
In Tuesday’s update, the city’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services laid out the facts about current ownership –“As of January 2020, 42 of Seattle’s 48 cannabis retail stores had white majority ownership, of those 37 by white men” — and a framework for what it will cost to get the program moving in Seattle including the major challenges posed by current statutes and the city’s zoning laws. Officials say current restrictions limit the city to a number of new stores community groups say won’t be enough to make a dent in the predominantly white ownership: Seattle only has room for two new shops.
“King County Equity Now and Black Excellence in Cannabis have demanded the City ask for 30 social equity licenses,” the Department of Finance and Administrative Services report (PDF) reads. “Seattle does not have a cap or moratorium; however, existing zoning and land use restrictions make it difficult to site even two new stores.”
The report says stakeholders want the City Council to expand more of Seattle’s land use to allow social equity retail licenses.
CHS last reported on Seattle’s cannabis land crunch in September as one of the few coveted parcels in the city that can be licensed for marijuana retail hit the real estate market in the Central District. So far, no transaction has been recorded at the address but Ponder owner John Branch told CHS he eventually intends to sell the license to a buyer who might be interested in reopening a shop nearby once the property is purchased for redevelopment.
Meanwhile, the Department of Finance and Administrative Services has put a price tag on creating the program and says work organizing city departments to make it happen has begun involving the Office of Economic Development to “help support business development,” and the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections to “support expansion of cannabis zoning for social equity licenses.”
Funding and community partners still need to be identified, according to the report, and potential funding would include $1.3 to $1.4 million annually from the cannabis excise tax, money that is currently distributed into the city’s general fund.
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Can we get details on what the $1.3mm-$1.4mm of _annual_ spending will be for? That would pay for a huge staff.
The money is pulled out of your wallet and burned so you can feel equitable, that is what the spending is for.
About time!!! More black businesses! Prefer them in the Central District too.
It’s not the government’s job to favor blacks over non-blacks. It should be noted the gender discrepancy is greater than the racial discrepancy. And other minorities are even more underrepresented than blacks are. So why do people keep talking about directing funds and preferential treatment only to Black people? This feels like another shakedown. It’s ironic that people who complain about racial disparities and inequities seem fine with it when non black minorities are being short changed but black people are being given preference.
“It’s not the government’s job to favor blacks over non-blacks.”
…..you do know it’s actually been their job to actively keep the black community down, right?
Also, my gay latina ass has no problem with someone who doesn’t belong to my minority bubble getting a piece of the pie.
ugg. this is all illegal. the voters of washington rejected affirmative action. twice the city can not pick and choose to favor by race. stop it.
Agreed! Anti-White, Anti-European-Immigrant Racism is still racism! It is fueling hate and division that is becoming more violent and extremist!
Please telling me this is meant to be sarcastic.
Look, I’m far from a flaming lefty, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with targeted re-zoning to provide opportunities for business ownership to those traditionally shut out and most impacted by the drug war. It’s not ‘taking’ opportunity from anyone else as evidenced by the current demographic breakdown. So why the hell not? Ownership is a positive thing that has residual benefits for an entire community.
That said, the $$$ allocated is absurd without a more detailed breakdown.
I get the feeling a lawyer would have a field day going through all the choices made on a city, county and state basis that seem to fly in the face of existing laws against discrimination. There seem to be some caveats introduced that allow skirting these laws for “underserved communities”yet this label has been applied in ways that are obviously dishonest.
This might be interesting from a funding aspect. (Admitting I’ve done no serious research) To the best of my knowledge, pot is still illegal federally. This would mean that no major bank or traditional loans that are federally insured are able to go to prospective owners of these shops. I know that this has been a challenge for banking and getting normal business insurance for those in the industry. Perhaps it’s less a city and licensing problem and more an access to funding that’s causing the discrepancy and lack of equity. Just a thought.
The best way to make marijuana equitable is to end the Federal Laws against it.
What are the 6 cannabis retail stores with no white majority ownership? Looked in the links in your article but couldn’t find them. Let’s support them in the meantime!