A narrow, lawful fix: bring Yakima's cannabis buffer down toward the 100 feet State law already allows — so two social-equity licensees can finally open. Schools and playgrounds stay protected at 1,000 ft.
José & Jorge Ulloa — two brothers, Washington State social-equity retail licensees, raised in the Yakima Valley.
The detail — the map, the study, the record — is below. But the decision is right here.
The whole story is on the map: the minefield that denied me, the invisible daycares, the City's 500-ft recommendation, and where 100 feet would finally let a licensee open. Tap 1 → 2 → 3 → 4.
Navy is where the State buffer forbids a store; green is the only zoning where one is allowed. Schools and playgrounds stay locked at 1,000 ft. This shows only the public buffers — the City also blocks sites for in-home daycares no map is allowed to show.
Yakima's stores were licensed years before the equity round. By the time these licenses existed, the sites that work were taken — not just the best ones, the only ones.
Commercial real estate remains — but the 1,000-ft buffers, especially the in-home daycares hidden in the neighborhoods, put nearly all of it off-limits. This is the wall the Council can lower.
Some sites that remain have sat empty for four years — yet the owners won't lease to cannabis. That's their right. But it shrinks an already-narrow map to almost nothing.
The Council can't move the other stores or change an owner's mind. It can do the one thing that widens the map — reduce the buffer — so that among the sites and owners that are willing, some land finally qualifies.
Yakima's commercial streets are thin ribbons with houses directly behind them. An in-home daycare is licensed inside a private home — in that residential band. A 1,000-ft buffer reaches into it; a 100-ft buffer stays on the commercial lot, where a store belongs.
In-home daycare locations are legally confidential. City staff have said the data "changes daily" and they can't see it either — so a compliant applicant is aiming at a target no one is allowed to look at, that moves without notice.
Everything requested is written into RCW 69.50.331 and WAC 314-55-050, and East Wenatchee ran this exact process in January 2025 with no adverse safety finding.
For fifty years, the same federal authorities that called cannabis the most dangerous class of drug — Schedule I, "no accepted medical use" — held that line. In 2026 they reversed it: the U.S. Department of Health and the FDA found cannabis has an accepted medical use, and the Department of Justice moved medical cannabis to Schedule III. The fear was theirs to create, and theirs to walk back. If the federal government can follow the evidence and change course, a city can too.
Not just my word — it's the government's own record: U.S. Federal Register, cannabis rescheduling (2026) · DEA.gov.
Cannabis is not for everyone, and it is never for children. I agree with the State: 21 and over, no exceptions. A licensed store is the hardest place in Yakima for a minor to get cannabis — every customer's ID is scanned.
It's the law, and it's the real safeguard: age, not distance, is what keeps minors out. A licensed store is stricter than any neighborhood.
The strictest protection, where children actually gather, stays untouched. This request never changes it.
I'm a State-certified Medical Cannabis Consultant. Most stores certify one employee; I'm certified myself, and I intend to certify every person on my team — trained by the State to guide safe use. If the leader is certified, everyone will be.
RELAX — the word, the number 21, and the Flower of Life. No leaves, no smoke, nothing that could catch a child's eye. See for yourself.
We guide each person to use only what they need — and we teach tolerance breaks. A customer who feels better and buys less is a success to us. Our staff are trained to advise, not to upsell.
We don't market to anyone under 21 — nothing aimed at young people. Schools and playgrounds stay at 1,000 ft, every ID is scanned, and the store looks like a wellness office, not a candy shop. Keeping cannabis away from kids isn't a slogan for us; it's how we operate.
Not a slogan — specific things a real, local business does:
Hired here — with priority for the communities most harmed by the war on drugs. That's who the social-equity license is for.
Yakima collected about $265,000 in cannabis tax in 2024 — from the stores that are open. The two social-equity licenses aren't open, so today they add zero. Opening them adds two more businesses paying local tax, plus jobs and in-city sales the City draws on.
A commercial space that's sat empty for years becomes a taxpaying business — in the very areas the City voted to invest in. At 100 feet, 623 eligible sites open inside those areas.
My staff will support the community — local events, neighborhood cleanups, food banks — on my payroll, not asked of them for free. Giving back in hours and presence, not just words.
Working with Yakima organizations that strengthen this community — and growing that contribution as the business grows.
Cannabis is medicine to a great many people in this valley. The State asked the Ulloa brothers to open here and granted the licenses to do it — and Yakima has gone without that tax revenue for four years. This is not a request to bend a rule. It's a request to use the one the law already wrote, so the city's own social-equity licensees can finally open. Yakima, your brothers are ready. Help us open.
This page updates as the process moves.