The city of Kirkland already has a handful of marijuana businesses in town, but the industry is about to become far more visible.

Kush, a marijuana retail store, is expected to open in July on Northeast 90th Street — practically in the Costco parking lot — between the main store and the gas station.

The new business, owned by Jason Berge of Bothell, may come as a surprise to some Kirkland residents, but the Kirkland City Council has no obligation to inform businesses or residents about their new neighbors. Some residents have complained to the city that the public was not properly notified of the addition to the neighborhood, but as long as the business owner is compliant with zoning regulations and has jumped through the appropriate pipes, it is like any other business.

“Marijuana shouldn’t be treated different than other locations,” Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett said. “We don’t require signs on candy stores. It’s just a retail business.

“If you’re asking if (a marijuana retail store) is permissible use in the right zone, and if (Kush) got permission for that use, then yes, it did.”

Ella Hauge and her husband have both lived and operated a business, Leather Maids Tailoring, next door since 1993 and own the property where Kush will open. They say that the marijuana business isn’t a problem.

Hauge said Berge is a nice guy and that she didn’t fully understand why the new business would cause parking or crime issues.

“If anyone were to be concerned it would be us, not someone who lives miles away,” she said

Berge did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board raised the cap on marijuana retail locations in 2015, allowing Kirkland four locations instead of the original two. Per a 2014 city ordinance, locations are limited to commercial and light industrial areas, with restrictions based on proximity to school walk routes.

The city has several requirements which must be met before granting a business license, notably adequate retail parking.

So far, retail weed has proven to be a smoking-hot business across the Eastside.

The first of two marijuana retail stores currently operating in Kirkland opened more than a year ago. Kush will be the first in a densely commercialized area of Kirkland. Both Higher Leaf and Mary Jane are off the beaten commercial path.

And there haven’t been substantial problems with either location, Triplett said, despite concerns voiced by community members.

“We have not seen anything disproportionate with marijuana stores,” he said. “Not with traffic, not with crime. There’s nothing to indicate that they are bad neighbors.”

While traffic at Higher Leaf might not have raised alarms at the city level, it certainly has made an impact on the surrounding area.

The store has been wildly profitable since it opened in February, 2014, co-owner Molly Honig said. The store opened with 800 square feet of space, but customer traffic was so high, the business had to eventually move into a larger, 3,000-square-foot space in the same facility.

Early in the process, Honig said she and her husband would have taken just about any property. The Honigs bought the entire building simply to open the marijuana business, spending $3 million because it was the only location suitable for their needs out of around 60 available plots.

All of the other tenants in the 16,000-square-foot facility moved out during the six months following Higher Leaf’s opening. The remaining room in the building is now rented by a single tenant — and that’s probably a good thing.

Honig said the store attracts 500 customers on a slow day. She likened it to a busy coffee shop, with customers coming, placing orders and leaving, so there’s a high turnover with parking spaces. But still, the marijuana business alone takes up a large part of a parking lot with 30-40 spaces on most days.

The requirements for new retail businesses in Kirkland include parking appropriations, but nothing close to the level of traffic Higher Leaf has seen in an isolated area.

“Now, knowing what I do and what it does to traffic, I’m incredibly grateful we landed where we did,” she said.

Sierra Conley, who opened Mary Jane in July 2015, said business “has been great,” but declined to comment on customer traffic or give further details.