The City of Mission could see new cannabis stores in the near future. In Monday’s city council meeting, the moratorium on new cannabis stores in the area was reviewed.
In a joint effort, the council voted 6-1 in favour of lifting the ban on new stores in areas such as North Mission, Hatzic and Silverdale but maintaining the moratorium on stores in the city core. Councillor Ken Herar was the lone dissenting vote, after motioning the first option of six offered to the council earlier in the session.
“The common theme I gathered in talking to [employees in the area] is that local cannabis stores are not in favour of adding more locations. Business is not overly busy but steady,” Herar said.
The first option proposed offered no change — the moratorium would remain in place and no new retail cannabis applications would be accepted.
Most councillors were not in favour of the first option, voting against the motion 6-1. Mayor Paul Horn was concerned that the municipal government was meddling in the private sector.
“Our job as the council is not to support a specific business,” Horn said. “If the larger community was saying this, perhaps it would be different. I think we may need to cap off what we have in our core areas but if people wanted to bring something forward [in surrounding areas], they should be allowed to go through the same process as everyone else.”
Coun. Jag Gill said the first option contained too much government intervention and supported an approach similar to liquor stores where locations would be permitted anywhere zoning bylaws allow.
None of the five options presented to the council included this, with each option featuring some form of moratorium.
“I don’t know why we’re treating cannabis any different than liquor,” Gill said. “It’s legal and the moratorium is adding to the stigma.”
No changes were made to cannabis buffer zones and no further debate was held due to time constraints, although Gill raised concerns for the future.
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Coun. Mark Davies motioned option five, in which the city would lift the moratorium, add additional spatial constraints and a maximum number of stores. He proposed a maximum of 20 stores in the area.
“Councillor Davies has suggested 20 and is going to get a lump of coal in his stocking,” Horn said.
The council settled on a maximum of eight stores in the city, maintaining the five locations currently in the city core (four active and one under construction) with a total of three stores allowed in peripheral areas such as Silverdale, North Mission and Hatzic.
The new restrictions will be in place for three years before council revisits the issue. Retail cannabis applications will go through the same process of submitting to council for review and community input.
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dillon.white@missioncityrecord.com
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