Breather urged in Summerland

Town councillor seeks moratorium on use of farmland for cannabis production pending B.C. review

SUMMERLAND — The contentious issue of cannabis production within the Agricultural Land Reserve is once again on the Summerland council table.

Coun. Doug Holmes gave notice of motion Monday to support a moratorium on further use of ALR lands to grow and produce cannabis at the next meeting of council on May 28.

Specifically, the motion requires the district to request the premier and minister of agriculture place a moratorium on further use of ALR lands to grow cannabis while it performs a minimum six-month review and broad consultation with farmers, municipalities, industry and the public on the use of such lands for the growth and production of marijuana.

Initiated by the Citizens Protecting Agricultural Land, the moratorium was unanimously passed by the Central Saanich municipal council earlier this year and subsequently supported by the District of Kent.

“Council will be supporting the resolution at the 2018 Union of British Columbia Municipalities Convention in September as we concur that valuable farmland should not be consumed by cannabis production facilities,” District of Kent Mayor John Van Laerhoven wrote in a letter to the premier and the agriculture minister.

The pause would provide decision-makers with time to address where marijuana production facilities are best suited to be built and help to ensure ALR lands are protected and preserved, Nancy Chapman wrote on behalf of the CPAL.

Chapman also noted that it will be some time before the recommendations from the agriculture minister’s advisory committee on the revitalization of the ALR and Agricultural Land Commission will be released.

Summerland staff are currently working on bylaws related to the growing and production of marijuana.