When Green Solution Place opened last spring at 2801 Auburn Way S., it did so in the teeth of a City moratorium prohibiting additional retail marijuana stores beyond the two to which Auburn had granted business licenses.

While the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board on March 16 granted GSP a license to operate, it had no Auburn business license.

Green Solution Place raised the hackles, not only of the City of Auburn but also of people who lived in the nearby Forest Ridge subdivision.

One evening last spring, riled residents told the City Council that the entrance to Dogwood Street, being close to a nearby playground among other problems, was absolutely the wrong place for a retail marijuana store.

When Auburn took its complaint to King County Superior Court, Green Solution Place Preludio Management LLC and Green Solution Place counter sued.

In its defense, Green Solutions argued that it had submitted a complete building permit last December, prior to the City’s enactment of its initial moratorium last January or a later ordinance that lifted it in favor of a total ban, and that it had engaged in preparatory actions before the City took either action.

Key to efforts to settle the dispute outside of court, however, Green Solution Place recently sent the City a conditional notice of its intention to abandon the Auburn Way South site for good.

Taking that and other factors into account, the City Council on Monday authorized Mayor Nancy Backus to execute a settlement with GSP.

“I would think it wise for us to proceed to execute this settlement,” said Councilman John Holman.

“This will be a great celebration for the community off of Dogwood Street,” added Councilman Bill Peloza.

According to the settlement, the City is to pay GSP$53,500.

The settlement hinges on an ordinance the council also passed Monday evening that amends sections of the City code related to retail marijuana operations.

Because of that ordinance, the out-of-court settlement doesn’t preclude GSP from opening elsewhere in the City. Indeed, 14 days from the day the City was to receive notice of GSP’s abandonment of the site, according to the settlement agreement, the City was to “consider legislation to enable GSP to pursue approval of its proposed retail marijuana business operation at a new site located at 3310 Auburn Way N.”

Should the City fail to do so, according to the settlement terms, the agreement would be null and void.

A key section of the ordinance declares that the number of authorized marijuana retailers allowed to operate in the city must not exceed the present two, “provided that a retailer licensed by the state on the basis of priority-one selection may be allowed to operate in Auburn even if it constitutes more than 2 such businesses, if the business applied to the City for permits and or approvals … at a time when the City did not have a moratorium or a ban prohibiting such activity.”

Further, the ordinance says that retailers licensed on the basis of priority-one selection by the state board who have a a valid and complete building permit application submitted to the City of Auburn before Jan. 4, 2016 but cease to operate within the city, the number of authorized retailers would be reduced again to no more than two.

Both of the above provisions apply to GSP.

“The City is in the process of working to establish new zoning regulations for retail marijuana operation, and the idea here is to fit them into that parameter,” said Assistant City Attorney Jessica Leiser.

“This pertains to tidying up of our code to hopefully prevent future problems,” Holman said of the ordinance.

The Liquor and Cannabis Control Board initially licensed The Stash Box at 3108 A St. SE and Evergreen Solutions at 402 16th St. NE to operate. Since then it has licensed not only GSP but also The Marijuana Depot, whose owners hope to open at 404 Auburn Way S., in the near future.