Gibsons council has settled the debate over a temporary use permit (TUP) for the S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe by adding a new condition on the advice of its lawyers.
The cannabis store was originally granted a one-year TUP on Jan. 8, but Mayor Bill Beamish was opposed because owners Michelle and Doug Sikora did not plan to get a provincial licence for non-medical cannabis sales and instead wanted to focus on getting changes to the law that would allow storefront sales of medical cannabis.
The other two cannabis retailers granted TUPs by council have applied for provincial licences, although neither the Healing Hut, which plans to rebrand as Coastal Bay Cannabis, nor the Rainforest Compassion Club has received one.
Beamish convinced council to have the S&M permit put on hold to allow the Town time to get an opinion from its insurance companies and its lawyers.
The legal opinion was discussed behind closed doors recently, and at this week’s council meeting the S&M permit was brought back for a reconsideration vote.
Beamish didn’t give details of the legal opinion, but said a simple amendment would be enough to allow him to vote in favour.
“The additional condition is that the store operate in compliance with all federal and provincial laws,” Beamish said. “We are not the enactors of those laws, nor are we the enforcers of those laws… [The added condition] enables the Town to take a position if there’s a subsequent violation of law that comes to our attention, likely through law enforcement – it’s not a bylaw offence.”
Beamish also noted that the condition is less specific than the conditions of the other cannabis store TUPs, which required the owners to apply for provincial licences.
Coun. Stafford Lumley pointed out that issuing a TUP is consistent with the Town’s earlier approach to business licences for cannabis stores.
“I don’t think the Town should forget that we issued business licences to all these people a few years ago, so they’ve been breaking the law for quite some time,” he said.
Michelle Sikora of S&M said they would be willing to accept the new condition, and the TUP was approved in a unanimous vote.
There’s still no word on when Gibsons will consider TUPs for cannabis retailers who didn’t have business licences before legalization. At least one potential retailer, Gibsons Greens, which applied to set up shop at 416 Marine Dr. last December, had its application deferred.
Council said at the time it wanted to draft new zoning bylaws for cannabis retail before processing any other applications.
Sechelt issued TUPs to four cannabis sellers in September, and the planning department is working on zoning amendments to regulate where both production and sale of non-medial cannabis will be allowed.
As of Feb. 20, the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch had issued licences for just a dozen private cannabis retailers – none of them on the Sunshine Coast.
