11 Vancouver pot shops closer to legal status

Failed applicant threatens lawsuit

VANCOUVER — Eleven marijuana dispensaries have been given the green light by the City of Vancouver to move on to the next stage in their applications process, although lawsuits are being considered by at least one of the failed applicants.

“We plan on pursuing [a lawsuit],” said Donald Briere, owner of nine pot shops in Vancouver. “I’ve been approached by other shops [to participate].

“One of my locations is OK. The other [eight locations] were deemed to be within the no-go zone.”

Briere was commenting on Vancouver’s announcement Monday that it continues to process and evaluate applications for medical marijuana-related businesses, with Stage One now complete.

“After setting out new zoning and business licence regulations, the city received 176 applications before the application deadline on Aug. 21, 2015,” the city said in a statement. “Staff has now assessed all applications based on zoning regulations and continues to follow up with each applicant regarding zoning evaluation results and next steps. Applicants that meet zoning requirements will move on to Stages Two and Three, which consist of inspections and the city’s standard development permit and business licence processes.”

“To date, letters have been sent to 11 applications located in permitted zones which meet 300-metre distance requirements from sensitive uses [schools, recreation centres and other pot shops].”

City letters have been sent to another 30 applications that meet zoning requirements, except for the minimum distancing from other pot shops.

“The applications in these ‘clusters’ will be evaluated and scored based on criteria established in the bylaw. In each cluster, the operator with the best score can continue in the permits and licensing process at that location.”

The rest of the 176 applications have six months to secure other sites.