Okanagan Falls marijuana facility hits snag

Alarge-scale marijuana production plant proposed in Okanagan Falls has been put on hold after things got a bit hazy on whether or not massive amounts of fill are being trucked out of the property.

Green Mountain Health Alliance has bought an eight-hectare property at 760 Highway 3A where it plans to build a greenhouse the size of about five football fields to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes.

GMHA’s is just one of three proposals to build marijuana production plants in Okanagan Falls, and is currently going through the process to get a federal licence. It also requires a building permit from the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen

At the RDOS meeting July 19, staff recommended the board forward approval along to the Agricultural Land Commission for the proponent to bring fill onto the property. But Tom Siddon, director for Area D (Okanagan Falls-Kaleden), put a motion forward to not authorize more fill coming into the property, effectively halting construction.

Siddon said from what he has seen from pictures and talking to neighbours of the property, as much as 6,000 metric tons of “good soil” was removed from the property. And the crush that has been brought in from an outside source is creating an odour issue.

Dominic Unsworth, GMHA’s head facilities designer, told the board soil from the site hasn’t been removed.

“We have a portion of top soil stocked on site. The RDOS has said we can excavate so we have been. We have water rights on property and we have never had farm status and because of that we can carry on,” said Unsworth.

He also said the origin of the crush and its components are available to anyone who asks.

“Please forgive me for wanting to represent taxpayers in Area D and to recognize those in the audience here today,” said Siddon about several neighbours who attended the meeting and raised the concerns about the property.

Because the property is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, GMHA was required to, but didn’t, obtain permission from the Agricultural Land Commission before hauling fill to the site.

GMHA is now doing so retroactively and requires the regional district’s blessing. The board voted to postpone a decision until it gets more information, tentatively set for its Aug. 16 meeting.

GMHA spokesperson Alison Ruk said there is still a noted “prohibitionist” view on marijuana.

“There is this belief that we are growing this marijuana to get kids high,” she said.

“This a medicinal product that can help cancer and auto immune diseases.”