Pot bylaw
A bylaw zoning specific areas of Sechelt for medicinal marijuana production will come to the next council meeting on Nov. 4 for reconsideration.
The bylaw, which went through a public hearing process earlier this year, was previously quashed at second reading in a four-to-three vote of Sechelt council.
Mayor Bruce Milne cast the deciding vote to deny advancing the bylaw, saying he didn’t see enough support from his split council, but he promised to bring it back for reconsideration.
Speaking at the Oct. 21 regular council meeting, Milne said he hoped by Nov. 4 councillors would be able to “have any thinking or discussions that we need for any potential amendments in place,” so the bylaw could be reconsidered.
“We can’t just let it die. If we just leave it entirely at loose ends then the previous existing zoning stays in place, which is basically you can put medical marijuana production facilities almost anywhere you want outside the residential R1 lands. Anywhere in agriculture, without any controls, any industrial lands, some of the mixed commercial zones – it would all be open to medical marijuana production,” Milne said.
“We need to be able to zone potential production facilities where we think they’ll work for Sechelt.”
Milne said council would have to find a compromise of some sort to advance the bylaw.
“It’s better to have some zoning, which sets a direction, rather than no zoning which has no direction,” Milne said.
“So it’s quite important for us to make sure that we have some zoning in place, otherwise the current situation is not suiting the community well. We heard that very clearly.”
Milne said he’s confident council will make a final decision on Nov. 4.
“Councillors will have a choice to either live with the current zoning, they will have a choice to adopt the zoning or amend the zoning that’s in front of us or send it back to staff for a complete relook and another public hearing process, whatever that is,” Milne said, noting he doesn’t think a new public hearing process will be needed.
“I’m thinking that council will be able to find their way through what’s in front of them.”
Burning bylaw
Sechelt council has closed a two-week window that allowed the burning of garden refuse through an amended open-air burning bylaw.
Previously Sechelt residents were allowed to burn garden refuse outside from Oct. 15 to 31.
On Oct. 21, councillors voted unanimously in favour of adopting the amended bylaw to close the burning window. The change won’t be enforced by the District until next year.
Acting corporate officer Gerry van der Wolf said the amendment was considered by committee in June and then ratified by council in early July, but it fell off the books for a few months.
“I wasn’t aware of it and then I got a call from the public saying, ‘What is happening with that burning bylaw amendment?’ I researched it and realized that it should have come to council, and so it’s here,” van der Wolf said.
Coun. Alice Lutes said she was strongly in favour of closing the fall burning window “because all of us asthmatics have to close our windows in October when everybody’s burning.”
“I know when I worked as a secretary in the school it was a hard time for kids with asthma. I’ve talked about this for coming into the seventh year at council, talking about asthmatics and burning,” Lutes said.
“I get a little bit upset with this issue. Let’s close the window.”
Milne agreed.
“I think I would recommend that we are moving to a more urbanized situation with green waste disposal now pretty much in place right across the Sunshine Coast and the time has come to close the window,” he said.
When the question was called, all were in favour of passing the amended open-air burning bylaw.
