The Philomath City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to adopt a ballot title that will ask voters whether to permanently ban psilocybin manufacturing facilities and service centers within the city limits.
The resolution, passed during the council’s July 14 meeting, refers the matter to voters with a current two-year moratorium on psilocybin-related businesses set to expire in 2026. At the meeting, the approved motion placed the proposed ban on the November ballot, however, councilors may want to reconvene and push it back to May 2026 based on since-discovered circumstances.
“We just heard from the county and none of the other districts are doing anything for the election for November this year, which means the city would have to foot the bill for the whole election,” City Manager Chris Workman said Thursday, a process that he said could cost in the neighborhood of $50,000. “So I think we’re going to hold a special meeting next week and I’m going to try to convince the council that maybe we just let this go until May of 2026 and we vote on it then because there will be other ballot measures and other things that the county is doing.”
The ballot measure stems from Oregon’s 2020 approval of Ballot Measure 109, which legalized state-regulated psilocybin product manufacturing and service centers. Under state law, local governments may prohibit those facilities within their jurisdictions but the prohibition must be referred to voters.
Councilor Jessica Andrade cast the lone dissenting vote at this week’s meeting, saying she opposed referring the ban to voters “because I don’t believe it’s our place to refer the question of a ban to voters when voters previously agreed to allow it both at a state and city level.”
In the 2020 statewide vote, Philomath’s precinct approved Measure 109 by a 57-43 margin.
During Monday’s discussion, Philomath Mayor Christopher McMorran emphasized the importance of neutral language in the ballot title.
“We really want to make sure that this reflects what we’re asking,” he said. “Legally, this has to be neutral and just factual.”
City Attorney Ashleigh Dougill said she reviewed the draft ballot title and confirmed it was legally compliant, met state-mandated word limits and appeared neutral.
Under state law, the ballot title must include a caption of no more than 10 words identifying the measure’s subject, a question of no more than 20 words stating the measure’s chief purpose, and a summary of no more than 175 words providing a concise and impartial overview of the measure and its major effects.
Philomath initially enacted a two-year moratorium on psilocybin businesses, however, delays in state rulemaking limited opportunities to evaluate the impact of such businesses on other communities, prompting the council to extend the ban to ultimately refer the matter to voters.
If voters reject the ban, the city has already adopted regulations that would immediately govern psilocybin-related businesses, including restrictions prohibiting such facilities within 1,000 feet of public libraries and playgrounds.
Workman expressed confidence in the city’s approach regardless of the election outcome.
“I feel that whichever way the electorate decides to go, the time, place and manner restrictions will protect us from some of the harms and the concerns that may be associated with psilocybin,” he said.
The ballot title was to be forwarded to the city recorder’s office for proper posting ahead of the November 2025 election, however, that may now be delayed until next spring based on new information about it being the lone measure and the cost.
Workman was going to suggest to councilors that they meet following a July 22 Inclusivity Committee meeting but as of Thursday morning, that hadn’t been finalized.
