Set up for pot pricey

Would-be pot shop operators will have to pay more than $10,000 to the City of Kelowna to have their businesses considered for approval.

The fee — three times higher than any other application and rezoning charge — is to be proposed by planning staff to city council on Monday.

“We’ve had a number of costs associated with creating the new cannabis licensing system and we’re expecting there’ll be more costs in the future,” community planning manager Ryan Smith said Thursday. “We want to recover as many of these costs as possible, and have set the fees accordingly.”

The high charges are not an attempt by the city to try to cash in on the pending legalization of marijuana, Smith said.

“We’re not allowed to make money through a development application process,” he said.

From Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, the city is to accept applications for pot shops.

Council has heard previously there could be hundreds of such applications.

Each submission must be accompanied by a non-refundable payment of $1,000.

In December and January, a seven-member city team will review each application, evaluating each for how well it conforms to various city regulations concerning the location of pot shops.

Suggested considerations, still to be ratified by council, include locations only in commercial zones, a minimum separation of 500 metres between pot shops, 150 metres away from a major city park, and 500 metres from a middle or high school.

As well, applications are likely to be judged on criteria such as security arrangements, store appearance and overall business plan, possibly with the assistance of a third-party business expert brought in to assist city staff.

Those applications considered to best meet the city objectives will be forwarded to council for consideration of a retail cannabis sales subzone. At this point, the applicants will have to pay the city a further non-refundable $9,495.

Council will then decide whether to approve the proposed pot shop. Each would-be pot shop operator, however, also has to get approval from the provincial government.

The first Kelowna pot shop is not expected to open until well into 2019.

Previously, staff have said there might eventually be about 20 pot shops in Kelowna.

A practical result of the proposed setbacks is that that there might be only one or two pot shops in downtown Kelowna, although future councils might agree to allow more through site-specific rezoning requests.

The total non-refundable pot shop application and rezoning fees of $10,495 are intended to reflect the anticipated time and resources required in reviewing and processing all the submissions, as well as legal costs already incurred and expected in the future.

By comparison, most rezoning applications carry a fee of between $1,000 and $1,800, although the fee for a comprehensive development zone proposal — which usually include several large buildings with a variety of uses — is $3,380.