West Kelowna wants complete communication
Residents of a Westside care home will have another chance to comment, if they wish, about plans for a big cannabis production facility next door.
West Kelowna city council decided Tuesday to keep open a public hearing on the proposal, at 2648 Kyle Rd.
Councillors said they weren’t sure if people who live at 104-bed Brookhaven Care Centre were made aware by the facility operator, Interior Health, about the proposed cannabis plant.
“I don’t think Interior Health does a very good job at some things,” Coun. Doug Findlater said.
Findlater said he wouldn’t necessarily trust that an IH employee at a “desk in Kelowna” would make the time and effort to ensure word of the proposed cannabis plant on the adjacent property was conveyed to all Brookhaven residents. Council voted unanimously to continue the public hearing on June 2, and in the meantime have staff contact Brookhaven representatives directly to see if any residents of the care home want to provide their input.
“I would like to make sure those residents are purposefully reached for the purposes of the public hearing,” said Coun. Stephen Johnston.
Making every effort to allow Brookhaven residents the opportunity to participate in the public hearing was a matter of “procedural fairness,” Coun. Carol Zanon said.
Zanon acknowledged, however, that it was possible no Brookhaven residents would participate in the public hearing, especially given the constraints on the holding of the meeting required by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If it comes to nothing, fine,” Zanon said. People who wanted to participate in Tuesday’s public hearing were asked to gather at a nearby hockey arena, then come into West Kelowna’s municipal hall to address Mayor Gord Milsom directly, while the six other councillors joined the meeting online.
Despite dozens of people — many of them older residents of a nearby trailer park — expressing their opposition to the proposed cannabis plant in advance of the meeting, only a few people addressed council on Tuesday.
“Many of our residents have health issues and are not able to attend,” Karen Michaud told council.
Critics raised concerns about the potential smell of the cannabis plant, as well as what they said was its potential to fundamentally change the character of the neighbourhood.
Lee Karvonen noted the city originally intended to approve the pot-growing business, citing both its general compliance with municipal plans and the current difficulties associated with holding a public hearing, and only reversed course when there was a public outcry.
“It’s difficult to tell which smell is worse,” Karvonen said. “The odour of thousands of cannabis plants or the stench of this manipulated process.”