Carson City issues permit for marijuana distributor

The Planning Commission on Wednesday issued the first special use permit for a Carson City marijuana distributor.

Paladin is owned by Kurt Brown, owner of Capital Beverages, a local liquor distributor which is located in a light industrial zone of the city.

The business had planned to operate out of its existing location, but the city decided to exclude all kinds of marijuana businesses from light industrial, which often border residential areas.

By state law, marijuana distributors are supposed to pick up the product from producers and deliver directly to retailers without storing it on site. But the law also allows them to keep marijuana on premises under extenuating circumstances.

Paladin argued it should be grandfathered in and allowed to operate out of a light industrial zone, but the Board of Supervisors disagreed so Paladin decided to relocate to 3160 N. Deer Run Road, which is zoned general industrial, where distributors are allowed as a conditional use requiring a SUP.

Paladin distributes marijuana statewide. The sale of recreational marijuana in Carson City will be allowed as of Jan. 1.

The commission also approved a variance for the current phase of the Silver Oak residential development, which includes 44 new houses.

The variance allows roofs 36-foot high to the ridgeline and 18-foot driveways.

The commission voted to recommended to the supervisors changes in the ordinance covering fence materials in the city's historic district. Last year, the Historic Resources Commission decided a recently installed vinyl fence at a house in the historic district wasn't allowed under the city's development standards and had to be removed. The homeowner appealed the decision to the Board of Supervisors, which upheld it. But the board agreed the code was unclear and directed the historic commission to come up with a clarifying amendment.

The change now prohibits vinyl fencing while giving the commission the authority to waive the prohibition at its discretion.

Some commissioners were unhappy with the recent change to the way the commission will be chosen in the future.

The Board of Supervisors at its last meeting voted to institute a new procedure in which newly-elected supervisors each nominate a member of the seven-member commission while two spots remain at-large members who are chosen from residents who apply for it.

Currently, the entire commission is chosen through applicants who are interviewed and voted on by the supervisors.

The new system should start next year when two supervisor seats — those held by Karen Abowd and Lori Bagwell — are up for election.

"It looks like we're becoming a puppet of the board," said Charles Borders, vice chair of the Planning Commission, after Lee Plemel, director, Community Development, updated the commission on the change. "It's a terrible precedent for them to set."

Commission member Hope Tingle agreed.

"Frankly, this is a direct attempt to taint, and maybe that's a strong word, the Planning Commission make up," said Tingle.