City bans local stores from selling marijuana

Kelowna retailers are being explicitly told not to sell marijuana.

City council has passed an amendment to a zoning bylaw that specifically excludes pot from the list of items that can be sold in local stores.

Five people addressed council on the matter at a public hearing Tuesday night, each urging council not to proceed with the amendment.

But the city says some clarity is needed at the municipal level in advance of the drug’s expected legalization by the federal government.

“What we’re trying to do is stop storefront dispensaries from opening in our city until such time as the federal and provincial governments determine how recreational marijuana will be distributed,” Mayor Colin Basran said Wednesday.

“If storefront dispensaries are approved, we will then allow them in a similar manner as cold beer and wine stores,” Basran said.

By banning stores from selling the drug now, the city hopes to eventually create a regulatory framework to cover where pot can be sold, and under what circumstances, when legalization occurs.

For example, the city may permit pot shops only in certain areas and require would-be marijuana retailers to go through a rezoning process similar to the one that’s long been in place for liquor stores.

There are about a half-dozen stores in Kelowna already believed to be selling marijuana, according to city estimates.

With the city expected to introduce retailing regulations, the operators of those shops already open have no assurance they will be allowed to continue in business where they are once marijuana is legalized.