After several months of an interim ordinance limiting where marijuana retailers can be located, the Bellevue City Council gave insight to staff that it would be open to tinkering with it.

In June, the council approved an interim ordinance restricting certain co-operative and research marijuana establishments in the city and later passed another ordinance that would restrict marijuana retailers to six total in the city, and only in select neighborhoods — Downtown, Bel-Red, Crossroads, Eastgate, Factoria and Wilburton.

It also added — on top of the 1,000-foot separation between marijuana businesses and schools, libraries, day cares and other sensitive locations — a 100-foot separation between marijuana retailers and residential zoning.

After four months of the ordinance, city staff reported the impact of the ordinance on the businesses.

The limitations City Council placed on the marijuana industry do not preclude a Downtown Bellevue location, but do make it difficult to have a location in Crossroads in the foreseeable future.

One possible effect is that if a marijuana retailer (there are currently three in operation in Bellevue and another two that have just been permitted) were to go out of business or move, there would be a “rush” to fill that spot with another retailer of marijuana products. The permit would be site specific, so the existing retailer could not take the permit to a new location.

The council, which finds itself in agreement on more issues than not, was divided on what to do with the ordinance.

Deputy Mayor John Chelminiak said he found the prospect of further altering the regulations a waste of city time.

“The issue faced by the marijuana industry is that people don’t want to rent to them,” he said. “I say quit the tinkering and let’s move on with important city business.”

He said that to speak of letting the free market decide and then regulating marijuana retailers into the ground was hypocritical. He supported existing regulations to allow them to operate within Bellevue city limits.

“We were very smart to do regulations on this, but they are in place,” he said. “Let’s let the Legislature do its job.”

Voters in Washington passed Initiative 502 (legalizing small amounts of marijuana for those 21 and older) in 2012.

Several council members believed marijuana didn’t have a place in the city.

“I remain opposed to the sale of marijuana in the city of Bellevue,” said Councilmember Kevin Wallace. “Having a cavalier attitude toward regulations is frustrating.”

He said that allowing marijuana retailers in the city could lead to the “decay” of Bellevue’s neighborhoods and its values.

Councilmember Conrad Lee sided with Wallace, stating that for him, marijuana was not something he wanted to see in his city. He did say that he would respect the wishes of Bellevue voters, however.

On the other side of the issue, Councilmember Jennifer Robertson backed the small businesses, citing good practices from many of the established retailers and even proposed a lifting of parts of the ordinance.

“Even though there are residences, Downtown is different, in my opinion,” she said. “I could see allowing another retailer in that neighborhood.”

Councilmember Vandana Slatter wanted clarification on what exactly the zoning limits meant.

“Can you have more than one retailer in a subarea?” she asked. “I think there is some general confusion around what is possible from a zoning standpoint.”

Mayor John Stokes thought the subject was a non-issue, as state laws and city ordinances have already dealt with the matter.

“Liquor stores are all over the place, grocery stores have them. We don’t freak out about that,” he said. “Let’s work hard on the hard drugs, like heroin.”

In other council news

The council was briefed on Bellevue’s ongoing efforts to become a “Smart City.” Six different departments within city government have worked together and collaborated with organizations like Puget Sound Energy, NORCOM and the University of Washington Evans School over the past 18 months to develop a long-term framework for how to become smarter.

Staff highlighted key achievements, including the new Urban Smart program with PSE, convening a regional Smart City workshop with Redmond, Microsoft and Verizon, and winning two federal grants from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Energy.