West Vancouver residents are being encouraged to speak out on greening out.
Cannabis regulations for the District of West Vancouver are heading to a public hearing, following a unanimous vote from council June 25.
At the meeting, council got a first look at district staff’s proposed cannabis regulations bylaw, which seeks to prohibit the production and sale of retail cannabis in West Vancouver.
The sale and consumption of recreational marijuana becomes legal across Canada on Oct. 17. But while federal legislation will make non-medical cannabis legal across the country, it is being left up to provincial and local governments to determine how it will be distributed and retailed.
“In advance of the legalization of recreational cannabis, it’s proposed that the production and retail be prohibited as the District of West Vancouver does not have any criteria at this time, or policy, to assess the appropriate location for the retailing of recreational cannabis,” said district planner Lisa Berg in a presentation to council.
However, along with that initial prohibition, staff’s report also recommends crafting criteria and a policy that would help the municipality determine the appropriate location for retail cannabis sales in the future, should council wish to consider that later on.
Coun. Craig Cameron said he was fine, for the time being, with the district taking a more conservative approach with retail cannabis in the municipality, but hoped to see some more action on it in short order.
“There is going to be a lot of flux in the next year in this, certainly through the Oct. 17 date, so I’m OK with taking a reactive approach for the moment,” he said. “(But) I think that closing our eyes and hoping it goes away … is quite unrealistic.”
Cameron acknowledged that some people believe allowing retail cannabis in the municipality might make the purchase and consumption of pot more widespread, but added that: “It’s unlikely to become more prevalent than it is now.”
Under the proposed bylaw, if a retail cannabis business did wish to open in the district it would have to apply for a rezoning, giving council case-by-case discretion to determine how the application would proceed, which could include having a public hearing, or stimulating conditions such as hours of operation or placing limits on where the business would be allowed to operate.
The community can have their say on the proposed cannabis regulations bylaw at a public hearing scheduled for July 16 at 6 p.m. in the district’s municipal hall council chamber.
District of North Vancouver is also seeking public input this summer on its proposed cannabis regulations. City of North Vancouver council voted in May to ban cannabis sales in advance of legalization.
