LEGAL CANNABIS Peachland to poll people on pot shops

Proposal would see $13,000 spent to consult townsfolk on whether, how pot shops should be allowed to operate

Five months after B.C.’s first cannabis store opened, Peachlanders will be asked if they would like to see pot shops eventually allowed in their town.

Municipal staff get up to 10 inquiries a week from people interested in opening a pot shop in the town of 5,300.

But current municipal rules prohibit such businesses, despite the drug’s legalization last October.

Next Tuesday, council will be asked to approve the spending of $13,000 for a public consultation process aimed at determining if townsfolk support the idea of allowing pot shops in Peachland and, if so, under what circumstances.

Plans are for a consultant, Urban Systems, to prepare an online survey and host one or two public information sessions with the results brought forward to council in the fall.

Council will then decide if pot shops “will be incorporated (or not) into the economic fabric of Peachland,” reads part of a report to council from town planner Darin Schaal.

Provincial law gives municipalities the power to decide whether to allow or prohibit pot shops in their communities. The vast majority are permitting such businesses, although they are not currently allowed in Richmond, Abbotsford, Pitt Meadows and Whistler.

The first legal pot shop, owned by the provincial government, opened in Kamloops on the day of the drug’s legalization.

In its prospective launch of a public consultation process, Peachland is considerably behind other area municipalities on the pot shop file.

The City of Kelowna is about to review specific proposals for pot shops that have been vetted by a municipal team, West Kelowna plans to allow four such businesses at least initially, and Lake Country has already given its approval to a pot shop in the Turtle Bay strip mall.

However, no legal pot shops have yet opened anywhere in the Central Okanagan.