Councillors in Sechelt are having another go at cannabis zoning amendments.
A bylaw got as far as public hearing in May, but councillors realized the proposed 150-metre buffer zone around schools would put at least two of Sechelt’s existing cannabis retailers inside the buffer zone around the Sunshine Coast Alternative School located on Inlet Road.
On June 19, council voted to rescind first reading of the earlier bylaw and proceed with a new set of regulations that would keep the 150-metre buffer for Chatelech Secondary School at 5904 Cowrie St., Kinnikinnick Elementary School on Lighthouse Avenue, West Sechelt Elementary School at 5609 Mason Rd., and Davis Bay Elementary at 5078 Davis Bay Rd.
A “notwithstanding clause” will be added to establish a 50-metre buffer around the alternative school.
Coun. Brenda Rowe said while 50 metres seems like a small buffer, it’s big enough to keep a cannabis shop from opening up right across from the school.
Changes to provincial rules recently ended the restriction against growers on ALR land using greenhouses or other facilities with concrete floors.
Director of planning Tracy Corbett said the federal and provincial rules have been “a bit of a moving target” for many B.C. municipalities.
The updated Sechelt bylaw will not ban cannabis growing on the ALR, which municipalities aren’t legally able to do, but it will require growing facilities to be “soil based.”
Coun. Matt McLean said he supports the change because while cannabis is a hot product right now, that might not always be the case and protecting the ALR land so it can be converted to other types of farming if the owners abandon marijuana growing is crucial.
The bylaw will now have to come back to council for a new first reading and a new public hearing.
