Hopes for a cannabis store in Lindsay go up in smoke

Selected applicant plans to open shop in Ottawa instead if approved

LINDSAY — People looking to buy legal marijuana in Lindsay are going to have to wait.

A cannabis retail outlet for the plaza at 351 Kent St. W. in Lindsay was approved for a licence in the second round of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s marijuana store licence allocation lottery announced a few weeks back.

The commission’s rules allow the selected operators to file a request to open a store at a different address in their region “due to extenuating circumstances.”

Gerrit Murray, the selected applicant, has now scrapped the Lindsay location and filed instead to open at 1642 Merivale Rd. Unit A01014A in Ottawa, even though Ottawa already has two stores from the first round of licences and another three in the works from the second round.

It’s the second time the rug has been pulled out from under Lindsay. Cirrolion Capital Inc. had initially won a secondround licence, also for the 351 Kent St. W. location, but that application was later disqualified for not meeting qualifications on time.

Selected applicants had to submit a $50,000 standby letter of credit from a bank, show that they have the right to possession of the retail space on their application, apply for a retail operator licence and apply for retail authorization within five business days of the draw.

Meanwhile, the process is continuing for what is expected to be the first marijuana store in the Kawarthas.

Huge Shops Ontario Inc. was one of the seven applicants selected for the East Region in the second round, for the vacant store next to the Coffee Time shop in Fowlers Corners, at 566 Frank Hill Rd.

That application met the qualifications, but has yet to advance to the next stage: the public notice period.

The new store was also held up in mid-September when 11 disqualified entrants asked an Ontario court to take a second look at their rejections and to halt the licensing process in the meantime.

That legal challenge was dismissed about two weeks later, lifting the temporary hold on licence applications.

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed a motion for a stay on the lower court’s ruling a few days later.

An application from 11536842 Canada Corp., for a location in downtown Peterborough in a vacant store at 225 George St. N., remains as one of five stores on the East Region waiting list.