District of North Vancouver council has sparked the cannabis discussion and is now ready to pass it to the public.
Council sent three potential pot shops to public hearing Monday, two in Lynn Creek and one in Deep Cove.
By far the most controversial is the proposed Muse Cannabis Store in the Dollarton Plaza at 385 North Dollarton Hwy.
When the district solicited opinions from the nearby public, they got 47 letters opposing the store and only two in favour. But council also received one petition with 105 signatures in support of the rezoning and two others with a total of 140 opposed.
At issue is the store’s impact on the single-family home character of the neighbourhood, its proximity to Sherwood Park Elementary and worries over crime, smell, noise and loitering.
Council’s cannabis policy suggests shops should be limited to no more than one each in the four main town centres – Maplewood, Lions Gate/Marine Drive, Lynn Valley, and Lynn Creek – but council has the power to consider all applications on a case-by-case basis. Because of the level of controversy, district staff advised council against giving the rezoning first reading. The majority, however, disagreed.
Coun. Jim Hanson said it does not make sense to force Seymour and Deep Cove residents out of their neighbourhood to purchase cannabis and he wasn’t buying into the panic.
“People in Seymour purchase cannabis. This is a fact,” he said. “It seems, at least on its face, to be a suitable location. We sell liquor right next door, as I understand. And with all due respect to those putting forward the opposition and the petitions, I doubt, quite honestly, any significant harms will be flowing from the sale of retail cannabis in this exact location.”
Although she voted in favour of sending it to public hearing, Coun. Lisa Muri said she would be looking to see a greater consensus from local residents.
“I don’t want to put the neighbourhood under a level of stress that they’re not comfortable with. And I don’t think a local business would want that either. I think you want the community to embrace you and to welcome you,” she said.
The other two pot shops, if both approved, would be across the street from one another: Kiaro Cannabis at 1560 Main St. and North Shore Cannabis at 1520 Barrow St.
Neither proposal triggered an overwhelming response from the public, positive or negative. But Hanson and Coun. Megan Curren both voted against advancing the Kiaro application on the north side of Main, citing difficult site access. Muri, however, said she could see the two stores complementing each other.
The public hearing for the three shops has been tentatively set for March 3. Council is expected to vote later this month on whether to send three other would-be pot proprietors to public hearing. Those proposals are all on Marine Drive, at 1074, 1629 and 1199.
So far, just one legal pot shop has opened on the North Shore. 1st Cannabis on West First Street in the City of North Vancouver began doing business on New Year’s Eve. According to the city, there have been no complaints filed about the store since it opened.
