Twice last year, two different North Bend sites were eyed for a marijuana store. The second site – in the Mountain Valley Shopping Center – proposed by the Issaquah Cannabis store owner, fell through when it was determined CC&R’s would not allow the usage.
Now a new, third site is being proposed – this time near the intersection of SE North Bend Way and 436th Ave SE. The store is being proposed by Wayne Seminoff, along with two business partners — Mike and Nicholas Rafizadeh – who operate The Joint in Seattle.
[The marijuana business has 4 retail locations in Western Washington. ]
A developer agreement (DA) with the City of North Bend would be required as while North Bend municipal code does permit marijuana retail sales, current zoning does not allow the store in this specific area.
The store is proposed for 43514 SE North Bend Way, which the developers are trying to lease. The project would remodel an existing single family home into a commercial building for the marijuana store. It would also include other site improvements like parking, landscaping, storm water controls and street frontage improvements.
According to the draft Developer Agreement, Seminoff (development applicant) has an existing state license to sell marijuana products in North Bend, pending approval by the city for a specific location.
The agreement states:
“The City has inquired with the Seattle Marijuana Program Consumer Protection Division and the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board about the operation and business practices of Mike Rafizadeh and Nicholas Rafizadeh, business partners of Wayne Seminoff that will operate the Retail Store, who currently also operate a marijuana retail store in the City of Seattle, ‘The Joint.’ The Seattle Marijuana Program Consumer Protection Division did not indicate any noteworthy operational violations of The Joint. While the Liquor and Cannabis Board indicated no criminal investigations or safety violations related to The Joint, the Liquor and Cannabis Board noted a True Party of Interest Licensing Violation associated with another individual involved in that store, separate from Mr. Seminoff’s business partners, which city staff did not consider significant for consideration of the applicant’s proposed Retail Store in North Bend.”
The developer agreement also includes additional landscaping buffer requirements; signage restrictions; sets hours of operations to not exceed 8AM – 10PM; and requires an annual $25,000 mitigation payment to the city to cover potential excess public safety costs.
The North Bend Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed Marijuana Store Developer Agreement during its August 13th online meeting at 7PM.
Anyone wishing to comment can obtain an invitation to join the meeting by emailing Senior Planner Mike McCarty at mmccarty@northbendwa.gov
Written comments can also be sent to City of North Bend Community and Economic Development, PO Box 896, North Bend WA, 98045 –
Attn: Mike McCarty, Senior Planner or emailed to mmccarty@northbendwa.gov. Emailed comments
should include the subject line “Marijuana Retail DA Hearing.”
See full Draft Marijuana Store Developer Agreement HERE.
Comments
This is troubling news. I’ve heard recently that various owners of The Joint locations have participated in blackface or overt misogyny with rumors about owners firing women because they either became pregnant or because they weren’t deemed beautiful enough. The Joint is just one example of a marijuana dispensary chain that is currently being boycotted by the public for their participation in the oppression of Black Americans and Women, and the gentrification of Black and Brown communities which directly erases Black and Brown humanity.
Welcome to North Bend
Easy to Reach…Hard to Remember
Note to our planning comm: we’d (ha) love to have a dispensary here. But not one run by a mediocre human being who dresses up in blackface, hires poorly, treats employees poorly, and has established a horrible reputation in the greater Seattle area. Check those plentiful Yelp one-star reviews. No thanks, I’ll drive to Issaquah a couple times a year to stock up instead.
We added an update to the article. Neither the applicant for the North Bend project, nor his two named business partners in the developer agreement, are the owner of the Joint – Shy Sadis – who admitted to dressing in blackface in the past. Per its website, The Joint has multiple retail locations. The business partners listed for the North Bend project do, though, operate the Seattle ‘The Joint’ location. Shy Sadis is not listed as one of the partners in the proposed North Bend marijuana store. We also added a link to Sadis’s apology on The Joint’s website homepage.
Thank you. Too many people rush to judge before looking at all the facts.
Fantastic news! I for one would love to see a marijuana store in North Bend. May as well see some tax revenue instead of continuing to waste energy fighting against a substance less harmful than tobacco or booze.
Exactly! Cannabis is by far safer than alcohol and tobacco. It’s a PLANT, and medicine. Many people rely on it for pain management instead of opioids. I am 1000 percent in favor.
Will they be selling Dan Marcinkos pot? The City of Snoqualmie Public Works director in the biz. Ethics investigations, etc. And, do not forget he was pushed out the door for signing unauthorized utility agreements…what kind of violations are those?
The Mayor of Snoqualmie knew he was running this in Ellensburg on the side, while he was on the payroll for Snoqualmie. The City of Snoqualmie admin and much of council suffer from Misogyny, so this looks like a match for town. We also have major problems with the PD currently. Are they looking for a place to use their un-needed military vehicle?
Marcinko, pot man, from City of Snoqualmie is documented meddling in North Bend admin. Since he was pushed out of Snoqualmie.
What is his interest in this JOINT? Are there any conflicts of interest?
Why don’t developers pay $25,000 a year to the City? For added traffic, police, etc? Like this place would…
Okay, now we know what’s going on up on Pluto, can’t wait to hear about Venus and Mars. Luckily our two cities aren’t being ran by a bunch of whackos and fully support our outstanding police dept. In my opinion, the only problem we have with the police dept. is there’s not enough of them.
I am all for a retail pot store in the valley since we put the medical marijuana dispensaries out of business. Hope everyone is paying attention. If the article is correct they are exceeding their 3 pot store limit by opening another location. Which is the other rumor going around that The Joint is bending the rules so they can have more than 3 stores.