Four pot shop winners are in Hamilton, expert says

Will city allow stores? Council debates Monday

The 25 winners in the province’s pot lottery have been announced. The list includes four applicants in Hamilton, according to a local cannabis consultant.

Now it’s up to city council to decide Monday whether to approve legal cannabis stores in the city.

Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) released results of its lottery Friday night, with seven applicants in the west region — that includes Hamilton — randomly picked to apply for retail pot licences.

An additional 20 applicants in the region are on a waiting list in case any of the winners falter in the process: They have five business days to submit applications along with a $6,000 fee and $50,000 letter of credit.

There were 16,905 “expressions of interest” for applications included in the lottery — 12,294 in the west region.

Hamilton’s Olivia Brown, who owns Professional Cannabis Consulting, which has an office on Sherman Avenue North, said four of the west region applicants picked would be based in the city.

(Six applicants in the Greater Toronto Area region were picked, and five in the Toronto region.)

According to an email to The Spectator from the AGCO, applicants

were required to cite the region in which they would operate: “Applicants will need to file an application for authorization for a retail store, and include the address of the proposed store. The application becomes public at this time.”

Brown was part of a team vying to open a store at 1146 Barton St. E., and was disappointed her own application was not among those picked.

But she said she is pleased one of the four clients she has been consulting was selected.

“It’s good and bad news,” she said. “But I am excited, there are a lot of interesting things to come in the future.”

She said her client who received approval in the lottery asked not to be identified yet.

On Monday, Hamilton city council will hold a special meeting to decide whether to allow legal cannabis stores.

Two different surveys have suggested a majority of residents support legal pot shops in the city.

Hamilton councillors were poised to opt out during a December debate, but decided instead to consult the public via an online survey and seek more information from police and city planners ahead of a final vote.

The city is not allowing members of the public to speak at Monday’s meeting, which will begin after the completion of a board of health meeting scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Burlington will also hold a special meeting Monday on the issue.

Councillors will meet at 6:30 p.m. in committee and allow members of the public to speak if

they register by 9:30 a.m. that morning by emailing cityclerks@burlington.ca or calling 905-335-7600, ext. 7805.

All cities have until Jan. 22 to decide whether to allow pot stores. Large cities such as Ottawa and Toronto have opted in — but a growing number of cities like Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Richmond Hill, Oakville and Pickering have voted to pass on legal cannabis stores.

In Hamilton, both main school boards have written to councillors expressing concerns about provincial regulations that would allow legal pot stores within 150 metres of schools. Politicians are also upset about a lack of municipal control over store locations, zoning and licensing.