20 or more pot shops expected in Kelowna

Planning manager says city could receive ‘dozens, if not hundreds,’ of applications

Pot shops should be banned along parts of Lawrence Avenue and Leon Avenue in downtown Kelowna, city council will soon hear.

But municipal planners have abandoned a previous idea to create pot shop exclusion zones in other areas with high pedestrian activity, such as Bernard Avenue and the South Pandosy district.

And city staff expect there will eventually be about 20 pot shops in Kelowna, though it might be several years before this number is reached.

“We have made some revisions to our recommendations based on the consultation we’ve done so far,” Ryan Smith, the city’s community planning manager, said Monday.

Based on the number of pot shop inquiries being fielded by city staff, a large number of applications for the necessary property rezonings and business licences are likely this fall.

“We could get dozens, if not hundreds, of applications,” Smith said.

A first step for anyone wanting to open a pot shop will be to submit an application to the provincial government. It is not yet possible to do that, but expectations are the processing window will open soon.

As part of the evaluation process, provincial officials will ask their municipal counterparts for a recommendation of support or non-support for each would-be pot shop operator.

Kelowna’s proposed pot shop regulations include the following stipulations:

— A shop must be located 150 metres from an elementary school and 500 metres from a high school.

— Each pot shop must be separated by a distance of at least 300 metres.

— Pot shops would not be allowed on Leon or Lawrence between Abbott Street and Ellis Street. Staff are proposing the exclusion zone, Smith said, because there are many social service providers in that area and the city hopes to eventually see redevelopment that might be further inhibited by the presence of pot shops.

If an application meets these and other criteria, municipal staff would recommend council hold a public hearing on the rezoning of a property for which a pot shop is planned.

That would allow nearby property owners to comment on the proposal, with council making the final decision on each rezoning request.

Based on the regulations governing such things as setback from schools and the minimum separation between pot shops, city staff suggest Kelowna might eventually see about 20 businesses selling marijuana.

However, council would have the discretion to grant variances to the restrictions on a case-by-case basis, which could increase the total number of pot shops eventually operating in Kelowna.

Each pot shop application will be reviewed by a team of planners who evaluate the proposals based on such things as compliance with regulations, the business plan, and the proposed store’s form and character. The RCMP will also be consulted.

Those applications judged to be the most complete and appealing will be the first brought by city staff to council for a public hearing. So the order in which applications are submitted to the provincial government won’t necessarily be a factor in which pot shops open first.