Planned pot shop denied move to public hearing
A proposed cannabis-retail outlet on the Victoria-Saanich border won’t be moving to public hearing, even though it meets City of Victoria zoning requirements.
Victoria councillors declined to send an application from G.S. Pharmaceuticals for a dispensary at 3198 Quadra St. to public hearing last week.
Some councillors wondered about how to deal with the application, given that cannabis retailers are allowed in Victoria but not in neighbouring Saanich.
“It’s a bit unusual in that this is, I think, our first application that sits on a city border line,” Coun. Chris Coleman said.
“So the question becomes neighbourliness on our part.”
But neighbourliness took a back seat to objections from the Quadra Elementary School parent advisory group in the mind of Mayor Lisa Helps.
“This is the first application where we have received a letter from the parent advisory council of a school. I am taking that seriously, and that is the sole reason why I am not going to vote to send it to public hearing,” Helps said. “It’s 275 metres away from a school. The parent advisory council has written to us, and for me, that’s enough.”
The proposed dispensary, called the Green Gallery Dispensary and Wellness Centre and to be located at Quadra and Tolmie Avenue, falls within city guidelines, as it is not within 400 metres of another cannabis retailer, nor is it within 200 metres of a school, staff told councillors. They recommended it be sent to public hearing.
All residents within 100 metres, regardless of the municipality in which they live, would be notified of the hearing by mail.
Council received several letters for and against the proposal and a petition in support.
Coun. Marianne Alto said the application should go to hearing.
“I’m not happy with this, but I put it on the table because we set a policy, and applying the policy means that this should go forward,” she said.
Councillors agreed that Saanich, which does not allow cannabis dispensaries, should be notified, but said such a notification shouldn’t include an invitation to respond.
“Inviting a response indicates that we will listen to their response,” Coun. Jeremy Loveday said. “Frankly, I’m much more concerned about the response of our residents at a public hearing than the neighbouring municipality on a land-use issue.”
Coun. Geoff Young said: “I think it’s a little hypocritical for us to be asking for them to respond on an issue when we already are aware of this contradiction [of policy regarding cannabis retailers].”
Young said with pending legalization and new provincial regulations regarding distribution and sale kicking in this summer, the city should put its policies on cannabis retailing on hold.
“As it becomes legal, we will see drug stores and, I assume, specialty retailers coming forward and wanting to enter this business. This exclusive zone policy that we’ve implemented is just not going to be compatible,” Young said.