Plan for street-front cannabis store a shock for neighbour
Calvin Poon feels residents should have been better informed about proposal to open retail shop on Pelham Road
A notice taped to a paperedover window in a closed-up coffee shop caught Calvin Poon’s eye recently.
It told him a cannabis store is being planned 20 metres from his front door.
“We’re pretty shocked,” said Poon, who lives on Pelham Road in St. Catharines. “It’s a residential area, right beside it there are houses, behind it there are houses.
“We’re actually pretty concerned about this, especially since it’s a school area.”
He’s well aware cannabis is a legal product and sales are tightly regulated; he has no problem with it being sold, although he thinks his neighbourhood — with a long-term care home across the street, houses all around and three schools nearby — is the wrong place.
He’s also bothered by the way he learned about it.
He and his wife were out for a walk and the noticetaped to the window at 92 Pelham Rd., two doors down from his home, caught his eye.
What it told him was news to him, especially the part that said he only had until Nov. 28 to file a response.
“I always relate it back to a liquor store or a Beer Store. Usually they’re in commercial plazas, not right beside where people live,” he said.
“It’s not so much the activities of the cannabis we’re concerned about, it’s the location. It’s right on the street.”
He was surprised — and other people around Niagara might also be in for a surprise at some point.
There are applications in the works for more than 30 new cannabis outlets across the region, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which regulates cannabis retail stores.
In addition to stores open, applications for new ones are in progress at 17 St. Catharines locations, eight in Niagara Falls, seven in Welland and two in
Fort Erie.
They’re still in the application process. It’s likely not all will be approved, though the AGCO does not put a cap on the number of stores in a municipality.
The AGCO uses a number of methods to notify the community of proposed locations — placards posted on site, like in Poon’s neighbourhood, as well as notifications on the AGCO website and its Twitter page, and emails to people who subscribe.
In some cases, said senior communications adviser Raymond Kahnert, municipalities subscribe and share the information.
Poon doesn’t follow the AGCO on Twitter. And it was only by chance that he saw the notice in the store window.
“You literally had to walk by the front, squeeze your eyes and take a look at the public notice,” he said.
He began knocking on doors, notifying neighbours and starting a petition stating residents are “very concerned” the store could have a negative impact on children and the neighbourhood.
About a quarter of the people he spoke with are OK with the
store opening, while the others are opposed.
“I’m pretty shocked that all the neighbours I’ve talked to — whether they’re supportive of this or they’re against it — they didn’t know it’s coming, and there’s only one week where we can file a complaint.
“What’s most important is that you make an informed decision about this.”
Kahnert said the AGCO considers at least three issues before it approves a store opening: public health and safety, protecting youth and their access to cannabis, and preventing illicit activities in relation to cannabis.
Under the Cannabis Licence Act, cannabis retail stores can be located anywhere other re
tail operations are permitted. There are exceptions — they must be at least 150 metres from schools, for instance.
This week, a Niagara Regional Police spokesman said “generally speaking there is not a spike of criminality around or at the locations” that have opened across the region.
“My bottom line is, I have my own opinion on this. I respect others’ differences of opinion,” said Poon.
“But at the end of the day I think we need to be informed about this and to be aware this is coming to our neighbourhood.”