The Washington State Liquor Control Board released today the results of its pot store lottery, ranking applicants for the limited amount of licenses available across the state.

There are 20 applicants ranked for Bellevue, however, there are only four stores being allowed to operate in the city. Those holding the top-four spots are: Par 4 Investments, 10697 Main St.; The Novel Tree, 1817 130th Ave. N.E.; High Society, 10600 Main St.; and Happy Highway, 12121 Northup Way.

Should any applicant in the top-four ranking not pass a final review, the next applicant on the list will be considered, said Mikhail Carpenter, spokesman for the WSLCB.

The lottery was necessary in many parts of the state to address the more than 2,000 retail applications to the liquor board, when only 334 licenses are allowed statewide. More than 50 applications were filed for pot stores in Bellevue.

Candidates for licensure were already put through a prescreening process, he said, and now will face a financial investigation, background check and final inspection of their properties where the stores are proposed to operate. Licenses are expected to be issued by the first week of July and in 10-20 batches within major population areas.

“There’s still quite a bit left,” Carpenter said. “If someone doesn’t make it through the licensing process, we just go on to the next one.”

The city has put in place an interim zoning ordinance, which conforms with the state and allows retail in 13 different zones. Growing and processing may only occur within light industrial zones, and is not limited by a finite amount of licenses.

The liquor control board also has drafted rules that would prevent any such business from opening within 1,000 feet of a school, park, transit hub, child care center, playground, library, arcade center and collective gardens, which the city likewise adopted in its interim ordinance.

To see all of the lottery rankings, click here.