Councillors on Sechelt’s planning committee are recommending approval of temporary use permits for four businesses selling non-medical cannabis products.
Sechelt, unlike Gibsons, has never issued business licences to cannabis dispensaries, which have been operating in the grey market – technically illegal, but tolerated because of the changing attitudes toward cannabis use and pending legalization.
The four businesses that have filed for temporary use permits (TUP) to date are: WeeMedical on Teredo Street; Weeds on Wharf Avenue; the 420 Hemp Shop on Cowrie Street; and Sunshine Extracts and Concentrates, which operates out of a location on Sechelt Inlet Crescent.
All four business owners have said they intend to apply for provincial cannabis retail licences, which will be required under the new laws. The TUPs would allow the shops to stay open while that process goes forward and Sechelt finalizes zoning and business licence regulations.
Sechelt planning staff recommended approval of the WeeMedical, Weeds and 420 Hemp Shop applications for a two-year term on the condition that they remain on the ground floor at their existing locations, limit opening hours to between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and have “Hepa-filter odour abatement of exhaust air.”
The committee passed those recommendations with little comment.
The Sunshine Extracts application raised more questions because it’s located in the I6 industrial zone. Retail sales are allowed in I6, in conjunction with processing or manufacturing. Cannabis production is also allowed, but Sunshine Extracts doesn’t meet all the requirements, including being outside the buffer zone around residentially zoned properties.
Planner Angela Letman told the committee they were unaware when the company applied for its business licence that its “botanical extracts and health and beauty products” included cannabis derivatives, and she said it may have to relocate if it wants to carry on production after the TUP expires.
Staff recommended granting a TUP with the same conditions as the downtown shops, with an additional condition limiting the site to 100 sq. metres of floor space.
Both committee chair Coun. Noel Muller and Coun. Darnelda Siegers raised the uncertainty around the future legality of the type of cannabis product Sunshine Extracts makes.
“We still don’t have clarity on that. This may or may not turn out to be a legal product down the road,” Siegers said. “At this point we don’t know.”
Muller also pointed out the East Porpoise Bay Community Association has routinely said it does not support cannabis production in the area, although Medma, a medical marijuana grower awaiting Health Canada approval, is on a lot in the same industrial park.
Sunshine Coast RCMP did not offer any comments on the applications, and the fire department had no concerns provided the retailers are meeting the BC Fire Code.
The Sechelt Downtown Business Association supported all three of the applications in its area, saying “we look forward to working with the District of Sechelt on the creation of comprehensive policy allowing permanent cannabis retail in downtown Sechelt.” The Chamber of Commerce was also supportive.
All four temporary use permits will go to council for consideration on Sept. 5, with an opportunity for public input. Letman said Sunshine Extracts is also planning a public information session at its site Sept. 3.
Councillors in Gibsons are expected to consider a report on cannabis retailing at their Sept. 4 meeting, according to chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District board will also resume discussion of how to regulate cannabis sales in September. A July committee recommendation called for prohibiting the production and retail of commercial, non-medicinal cannabis in rural and residential zones within the regional district.
Non-medical cannabis will become legal on Oct. 17, and the province started accepting applications for non-medical cannabis retail licences through the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch earlier this month.
