Sechelt is poised to become the first local government on the Sunshine Coast to adopt new bylaws ahead of cannabis legalization, after council gave second and third reading to zoning amendments on July 18.
Sechelt’s zoning bylaw amendments would add definitions for the production of non-medical marijuana to allow those able to grow for sale under the new federal and provincial laws to do it in the same zones where licensed medical producers are currently allowed and with the same restrictions such as buffers around parks and schools.
The zoning changes would also make growing for personal consumption under the new laws an allowed use in residential areas.
Planner Angela Letman said following the public hearing and a review of the proposed bylaw by the district’s lawyers, staff removed the “prohibited uses” section, which included a clause banning so-called consumption lounges.
The ban on consumption lounges was put in the draft bylaw as a pre-emptive measure in case the province decides to allow them at some point down the road.
“Our legal review suggested that we should remove the prohibited uses section… When a zoning bylaw doesn’t list a use it is prohibited,” explained Letman.
The zoning amendments council voted on July 18 do not include business licence rules for retailers or any restrictions on where retail shops can operate.
Those will come later, once the provincial and federal laws come into force and the district begins processing applications from retailers who seek operating licences from the province.
Letman told council that all four of the stores selling cannabis products within the district – Sunshine Coast Botanicals, WeeMedical, 420 Hemp Shop (Coastal Meds) and Weeds – have now applied for the temporary use permits that would allow them to stay open while they pursue provincial licences.
The temporary use permit applications will go to the planning committee in late August.
“We’re being contacted quite frequently by the provincial government about the mechanisms of how their retail licensing process will go,” Letman said.
Letman’s presentation to council also noted the district will continue public consultation on land use and the smoking and business licence bylaws, once the federal and provincial legislation come into effect.
Council was appreciative of the work staff has done on the cannabis file to date.
Coun. Noel Muller said, “It’s a really complex file, and I was really comfortable with what came through [the planning department].”
Mayor Bruce Milne added that “it is really complicated, both for the community and for the councillors [and] for retailers.”
