RDOS encouraging marijuana production on industrial land

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is encouraging marijuana production facilities to locate on industrial land, rather than the agricultural areas over which it has no say, but wants to preserve.

Development inquiries are already being submitted to construct marijuana production within the RDOS, the board heard Thursday as it adopted regulations to make it an acceptable activity in general and heavy industrial zones.

Some of those proponents are making submissions to be sited in rural areas included in the Agricultural Land Reserve, which is out of the jurisdiction of the RDOS.

“We cannot zone ALR land because their legislation overrides our municipal zoning,” said Brad Dollevoet, development services manager for the RDOS.

He said there are a few pockets of industrial land that would be targeted for marijuana production, but not many.

The former Weyerhaeuser sawmill site in Okanagan Falls is one of the few industrial areas which fits the size requirements for marijuana production facilities, with most other opportunities landing elsewhere in Area D.

Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said some RDOS industrial areas have been “under-utilized” and the district could cash in on the growing interest. Area E (Naramata) Director Karla Kozakevich agreed. “I’d rather see large production facilities targeted to industrial and hopefully not using up (agricultural) land, so that we’re not giving up the production of, hopefully, food,” Kozakevich said.

Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes reiterated some of the points covered regarding marijuana zoning issues at Monday’s town council meeting in Oliver.

“Today, there is all kinds of intention papers, but there’s no federal or provincial legislation coming forward yet that is exactly going to tell us as a board or municipality what our responsibility is going to be,” Hovanes said.

Regulations surrounding zoning, the amount of facilities, security and other issues are still expected to come down from federal or provincial legislation, he added.

“I struggle with us trying to invent a wheel while every other municipality and regional district in Canada is trying to invent the same wheel,” Hovanes said.

“Is there not a better way of going about this than putting tons of our personal staff time and resources into something that just might be 70 per cent handed to you at the end of the day?”

Area F (West Bench) Dir. Michael Brydon said the question the RDOS board is dealing with is much narrower, asking whether to encourage facilities to set up on industrial land rather than agricultural.