Marijuana producer and processor NW Connoisseurs have begun the permitting process to move from their current facilities in Deer Harbor to Hope Lane in Eastsound.

According to NW Connoisseurs Director of Operations Aarikka Tuss, the lease for their current building will be up soon, prompting the move. The I-502 permitted growing and processing business is currently set up in multiple buildings on a Deer Harbor rental property, but they plan to build one single building in the new location to house all operations.

According to the conditional use permit application filed on July 31, the property is owned by Tusco Property Management, LLC and NW Connoisseurs will be the tenant under a long-term lease.

“Right now since we’re in five separate buildings it’s a little bit more of an obstacle, because we’re going to and from each building,” Tuss said. “Meanwhile this is going to be everything inside one complete building, so it’s more efficient, better for being environmentally conscious.”

The building will be 5,200 square feet without windows, and will contain a lofted office. According to Tuss, the building will have self-contained grow rooms to double-filter the air before exhausting.  The rooms will have carbon filters that will feed into a second carbon filter system attached to the building, which will then be exhausted through the peak of the roof.

“This concept will eliminate concern for odor because there is no particulate matter in our exhaust air, such as smoke, and therefore will travel away, even with an inversion,” Tuss said. “Not only will we filter our exhaust air, but, we are also filtering the incoming air from surrounding businesses. This is to ensure product quality and purity.”

Tuss said that their current location at 82 Lagoon Road in Deer Harbor does not allow them to make the changes they need. The business has applied for a conditional use permit at 46 Hope Lane and hope to begin building in the fall after a hearing date on Oct. 15. Public commentary for the project ended Sept. 16, which Tuss said consisted mostly of questions about what the facility will be like.

On June 21, NWC’s current landlords Corey and Sandra Cookston submitted a letter and photos to the public commenting process on NWC’s pending permit, alleging that the grow operation had devalued the property by not repairing broken windows and doors, improper fencing, damage to the septic system and more. The letter was also passed out in tandem with a petition started by a concerned Eastsound neighbor seeking to stop the permitting process.

Tuss called the landlord’s allegations “heinous,” and NWC employee Adam Parkerson stated that the photographs in the letter were “all opportunistic shots of temporary stacks of plant pots or equipment that may have been only there for minutes.”

Contrary to the tone of the letter, Corey Cookston said that he is not against marijuana production.

“We aren’t opposed to I-502 but we think it needs to be represented better,” Cookston said. “We haven’t had good experiences the last year and a half, and we feel the new location is really inappropriate being where it is at in a dense residential.”

Amanda Sparks, a resident of the Hope Lane neighborhood said she is concerned about the allegations regarding the former neighborhood.

“I’m concerned about the impacts of a large scale operation so close to our neighborhood,” Sparks said. “I don’t know how it will affect our community. I’m forming my opinion based on the information provided by the operation where they last operated.”

Business neighbor Jenny Welch of Lotioncrafter LLC will be bordering the property that NWC will be moving to, is also concerned.

“It has become abundantly clear more specific regulations need to be in place at the county level that address these operations and the by-products of their production,” Welch said. “The citizens have a right to recourse in the event these grow operations fail to control emissions, or otherwise impact the environment and their immediate neighbors, be they homes or businesses.”

Welch has concerns that the smell will affect her business and that the projected amount of marijuana compost is a “gross underestimate.” Welch is one of 65 that has signed a petition circulating around the neighborhood.

General concerns are that the state does not require NWC to regulate odor pollution, concerns of marijuana by-product compost, increased traffic at late hours as recorded in the Cookston’s report and the location of the business, which is near a neighborhood of families with children. The petition states the business should be on agriculture land away from neighborhoods.

“As a business owner whose land borders the proposed building site, I am gravely concerned about the impact a poorly run operation will have on the future of my business and of this entire neighborhood,” Welch said. “Agricultural operations of this nature are not light industrial by any means and should be in the countryside, away from residential areas and other businesses they can and will impact.”

The property NWC applied for will be next to Island Hoppin’ Brewery, Orcas Island Animal Shelter, Orcas Auto Tech, Lotioncrafter LLC and other businesses in a light industrial zoning area.

Kt Hendrie, board president for Orcas animal shelter, visited NWC operations in Deer Harbor to speak with the business.

“Once I heard there was not going be any smell or runoff I welcomed them as neighbors,” Hendrie said.

Owner of NWC Max Brand’s family has been on the island for about 20 years, and his father Heinz Brand has owned multiple food service business in the area including his current business Enzo’s Italian Caffe. Heinz is also the sales associate for NW Connoisseurs.

Tuss said that there are multiple misconceptions about the business, such as Heinz being the owner, that their current location is on Mount Baker Road and that they will be installing a greenhouse at the new location. Tuss said that there will be no greenhouses, and since NW Connoisseurs is permitted for producing and processing only, there will be no retail operation or selling of product on the grounds. In addition, Tuss said that the move will be an example of a marijuana grow operation that isn’t in an agricultural setting.

“As our operating plan, that’s not the way we’re doing it,” Tuss said. “We’re not a greenhouse, we’re not doing natural light. By going to a light industrial place, we’re trying to show that it can be agricultural or it can be industrial, it just depends on how you set up the facilities.”

The county council is currently working on draft regulations of marijuana production.

According to county council member Rick Hughes, since nothing has been voted on, no county marijuana regulation will be used on the NWC facility. He pointed out that marijuana legalization passed by 68 percent by voters in the county, the highest in the state.