The Pacific City Council on Monday voted to adopt the final piece of legislation to lock in place a six-month extension of an interim zoning ordinance that prohibits any marijuana businesses from opening in the city before Jan. 28, 2015.

By approving ordinance 2014-1875, the council agreed that the interim ordinance is needed to buy time to decide officially how to handle the effects of I-502, which made recreational marijuana legal in the state.

The ordinance – which complements 2014-1866, the actual interim zoning ordinance the council adopted on July 28 – passed with a 5-0 vote. It contains testimony from several residents and city staff from a public hearing on Sept. 8.

City Attorney Carol Morris, who provided the staff report at the public hearing, recommended the extension because the “City Council is in the middle of the process of deciding what legislation should be enacted on the subject of marijuana.”

The council and the City Planning Commission are bandying four ordinances about that would either outright ban any marijuana businesses, ban just medical marijuana businesses, or set up regulations within the city to officially license marijuana businesses.

DuWayne Gratz, a resident and a member of the City Park Board, said at the public hearing that the City should not adopt the moratorium because it’s “taking up everyone’s time, and people’s livelihoods depend on it.”

Four medical marijuana dispensaries are operating in the city under quasi-legal status.

Although the Washington State Liquor Control Board has approved a recreational growing and production operation named Downtown Cannabis Company, owned by James Dusek, so far the business has been unable to open.

Dusek – represented by the ACLU of Washington – recently joined in a lawsuit against the City of Fife, which banned all marijuana businesses within city limits.

A Pierce County Superior judge found in favor of Fife last month, ruling the passage of I-502 and the legalization of marijuana in state law did not specifically alter municipalities’ rights to decide which businesses to grant licenses to.

The case is expected to be appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court, according to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

“It’s precisely the issue the state Supreme Court is likely to provide guidance on to the state,” Ferguson told the Seattle Times.

The moratorium on marijuana businesses in Pacific expires on Jan. 28, 2015, although the City Council could rescind the ban anytime it chooses.