Community fights against pot growing, processing facility

They gathered with posters and handouts in front of The Goddard School Sunday morning.

State regulations require a marijuana business be at least 1,000 feet from any park or school.

So neighbors did their own measurements.

King County councilmember Kathy Lambert said county staff members rechecked the distance between the proposed business on 231st Way Northeast to Redmond Ridge Park's baseball park. They found it was only 995 feet or 5 feet too close.

"This 995 feet makes the site illegal," Roxana Teodorescu said. "It's against the law."

Teodorescu has a 15-year-old and 13-year-old boy and said she's worried about the influence of a business like this.

"[The] safety of my children.... increased crime in our neighborhood," she said.

But the community isn't stopping with this apparent victory-- which could still be challenged by the marijuana license's applicant.

On Monday, community members plan to show up with signs to the King County Council meeting to ask leaders to change zoning so that Redmond Ridge can't have marijuana businesses at all.

Lambert said as an unincorporated area, it doesn't have its own local government to protect it.

"Across the street is a senior citizens' community," she said. "This is not the place that we need to be growing marijuana."

But others said it's a business opportunity.

"It brings in more money and it's just win-win all around, I feel," Zach Nicholson said.

KIRO 7 left messages for the man who applied for the marijuana license but he did not return calls.

KIRO