Published 8:00 pm Monday, April 20, 2026
By Berit Thorson | East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pendleton City Council may decide about a proposal to push pause on new marijuana businesses in town.
The first and second readings of the proposed amendment will take place during the council’s regular meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 at city hall, 500 SW Dorion Ave. There will also be an opportunity for members of the public to voice their opinions during a public hearing.
If it passes, the moratorium would last six months, requiring another vote for an extension or to make the pause permanent. Approving a temporary moratorium would “allow city staff to study the market saturation of marijuana retailers within the service area of Pendleton” to help the council decide about a permanent moratorium, according to the staff report.
Formal discussion of the marijuana moratorium comes after the council held a public work session April 14. Sufficient support from council to consider the temporary moratorium and take an official vote on the idea allowed it to move out of the work session and onto the agenda. Kind Leaf Pendleton owner Erin Purchase initially presented the idea to the council in early March. She believes there’s too much saturation of product for the market in the area.
If enacted, the moratorium would apply to new marijuana businesses; any companies that are established in town or have started the process of conditional use permitting would be grandfathered into the ordinance. The report to council about the agenda item says two marijuana businesses have initiated that process.
City staff recommends that council vote to hold the first reading, second reading and public hearing the same night, which would allow them to decide about the proposal in the same meeting, rather than hosting a second reading and public hearing during a future meeting.
The city council also could approve two Oregon Department of Energy letters of intent to meet conditions for state grants of $35,000 each to audit the energy use and efficiency of Pendleton Convention Center and city hall.
The ODOE letters are included in the consent agenda alongside a request to submit Pendleton as the state’s only World War II Heritage City and suggested approvals of a public works cybersecurity plan and an Energy Savings Performance Contract with Ameresco for the Byers Well Battery Energy Storage System Project.
Additionally, the council considers two bids for public works projects, a contract amendment for a state water program and a land lease to Pendleton Sports Center, the youth sports facility under construction near the airport. The lease would last 30 to 50 years, with rental rates starting at $491.35 per month and reevaluated every 10 years. The land is expected to be used for batting cages and support buildings.
The councilors also will hear the first reading of an amendment to the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Committee. The amendment includes revisions to committee membership, to the process of appointing commissioners to the committee, and to the wording that outlines the committee’s focus.
According to the staff report, the changes will help “to improve the Committee’s effectiveness and responsiveness to local housing priorities.”
Housing has been a major point of focus for the council, especially since a group of people experiencing homelessness filed a lawsuit against the city over its right-to-rest laws and a group called Neighbors for a Better Pendleton requested the city ban future homelessness services from the downtown area.
The Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Advisory Committee is focused not on homelessness directly, but on housing development at all price levels, including by attracting developers and builders. The group tries to “develop and leverage programs in support of homeowners, landlords, builders and property or neighborhood revitalization efforts,” according to the updated language in the proposed amendment.
The city council will not make a decision regarding the ordinance during its April 21 meeting.
For more details on the regular meeting, find the agenda here.