Skagway business owner denied request for retail marijuana store

Downtown Skagway. (Courtesy of KHNS)
This month, the Skagway Planning and Zoning Commission denied a local business owner’s request for a marijuana retail store. The conditional use permit was denied not based on local zoning code, but on state law.
Skagway is a small community squeezed into a steep and narrow valley. That means many of the town’s businesses are condensed into an even smaller area. By state law, marijuana businesses cannot be within 500 ft. of a school ground, a recr