KITSAP COUNTY — Fifty-nine applicants are competing for 10 retail marijuana licenses throughout Kitsap County.

An ordered list of retail applicants (below) was released May 2 by the Washington State Liquor Control Board — the agency charged with organizing the new retail marijuana market in the state after the passage of I-502.

The list is the result of a lottery, used to order a crowd of applicants whose number exceeds the total allowable stores in the county. The board will now begin processing the applications, determining which ones meet the letter of the law.

Approved retail businesses will be issued licenses by the first week of July, according to a statement from the liquor control board.

Kitsap is allocated 10 retail marijuana establishments. The applications have been submitted to take a spot on that list, some of which are the same businesses, but at different addresses.

The 10 slots are broken down within the county — seven in unincorporated areas, two in Bremerton, and one on Bainbridge Island.

The businesses that are vying for licenses within the county’s at-large region — a total of 40 —  include: five in Bremerton, four in Kingston, three in Poulsbo, three in Silverdale, and 25 in Port Orchard.

Bainbridge Island, slated for one license, has three applicants. Bremerton’s two spots are eyed by 16 applicants.

While the list of applicants is released and ordered, it does not set in stone who will ultimately receive a license. Applicants must meet certain criteria to gain approval, such as passing a criminal background check and a financial investigation. The retail store itself must also be located in an area that meets buffer zone requirements, such as being 1,000 feet from schools, parks, or other areas where children frequent.

If an applicant fails to meet the board’s criteria, the application will be denied and the next business on the list will be considered.

The license lottery was held from April 21-25, and was an independent, double-blind process. A total of 1,174 applicants were included in the lottery state-wide, across 75 jurisdictions that had so many applicants that a lottery was required. A total of 47 jurisdictions did not require a lottery for retail marijuana licensees.

The liquor control board reached out to the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center at Washington State University, along with Kraght-Snell of Seattle, the accounting firm for the Washington Lottery, to handle the lottery. Each contributed in producing an ordered lists of applicants.

Retail businesses are only one part of the new recreational marijuana market that businesses are applying for. The liquor control board is also processing applications to produce and process recreational marijuana. It has approved 25 across the state. Two applications have been approved in Kitsap County. Nine Point Growth Industries of Bremerton, and Green Apple of Silverdale, were approved to produce and process recreational marijuana.

COUNTY

BREMERTON

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND