The General
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Canada - Municipalities take many approaches to grow-op bylaws: After years of being powerless to regulate the growth of medical marijuana in their cities, local governments are preparing for upcoming changes to the federal system with a battery of bylaws on where pot can be produced - if at all. In Maple Ridge, council plans to allow commercial grow ops only on agricultural land, while Langley Township is considering just the opposite, endorsing a bylaw banning grow-ops from farmland in favour of industrial areas.
Meanwhile, in Abbotsford, council is considering an all-out ban on pot production within city limits, while Vancouver isn't looking at any changes. Many Metro municipalities are planning to pass a new zoning bylaw before April, when Health Canada has said it will end individual licences allowing medical marijuana users to grow pot in their own homes. Instead, all medical marijuana will be grown and distributed by secure commercial operators. The operators must notify local government, police and fire officials of their intention to apply for a licence. Township Mayor Jack Froese said he's happy with the new regulations.
"They're fantastic. This will get grow-ops out of residential areas," he said. "But we also don't want to see them on our agricultural land," which is "almost like residential land" with many small acreages. Froese said township staff are aware of hundreds of small medical grow ops within the city, even though growers aren't required to report them. Only seven commercial applications have been brought to the attention of staff so far. Of the seven, six are in the Agricultural Land Reserve, while only one is in an industrial area.
"They've been made aware of our plans to pass a bylaw," said Froese of the applications on ALR land. If passed, the Langley bylaw will be at odds with a recently released statement from the Agricultural Land Commission, which said farming of medical marijuana plants is considered a legitimate farm use and is acceptable on ALR land.
In Maple Ridge, where a bylaw relegating medical grow-ops to farmland is in the works, the ALC statement was seen as confirmation of council's decision, which received criticism from rural residents at a public hearing in April, in addition to contradicting the position of the Lower Mainland Government Association.
Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin said the city has had problems with medical grow-ops in industrial areas in the past. "We had nearby tenants who had concerns about odour and security," he said. "We don't have an over-abundance of industrial land, but we have a lot of farmland in difficult terrain .... We're not talking about cornfields or blueberries."
It's a similar story in Vancouver. While the city isn't looking at a new bylaw, medical grow-op applications will only be considered in the two zones that allow agricultural uses, a spokesperson said. Further east, Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley Regional District are moving to keep growops out of the ALR and limited to industrial land specially zoned for enterprises such as slaughterhouses, asphalt manufacturers and sewage treatment plants.
Meanwhile, Surrey has made amendments to a bylaw dealing with the anticipated aftermath of the upcoming changes, which will see thousands of private growers left without licences. Council approved changes to the Controlled Substance Property Bylaw, which will require owners of residential properties containing medical grow-ops to remediate the facilities to protect future owners from health risks.
Among the varying municipal responses to the changing regulations, The Province found one common thread: All expressed concern about the process for dismantling medical grow-ops that will no longer have licences after April. "We know there are hundreds, if not thousands [of medical grow-ops in Metro Vancouver]," said Daykin. "In Maple Ridge, we've had three or four people indicate they'll be applying for a commercial licence. What about all the others?"
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Theprovince.com
Author: Glenda Luymes
Contact: Contact Us - The Province
Website: To grow or not to grow? That is the question
Meanwhile, in Abbotsford, council is considering an all-out ban on pot production within city limits, while Vancouver isn't looking at any changes. Many Metro municipalities are planning to pass a new zoning bylaw before April, when Health Canada has said it will end individual licences allowing medical marijuana users to grow pot in their own homes. Instead, all medical marijuana will be grown and distributed by secure commercial operators. The operators must notify local government, police and fire officials of their intention to apply for a licence. Township Mayor Jack Froese said he's happy with the new regulations.
"They're fantastic. This will get grow-ops out of residential areas," he said. "But we also don't want to see them on our agricultural land," which is "almost like residential land" with many small acreages. Froese said township staff are aware of hundreds of small medical grow ops within the city, even though growers aren't required to report them. Only seven commercial applications have been brought to the attention of staff so far. Of the seven, six are in the Agricultural Land Reserve, while only one is in an industrial area.
"They've been made aware of our plans to pass a bylaw," said Froese of the applications on ALR land. If passed, the Langley bylaw will be at odds with a recently released statement from the Agricultural Land Commission, which said farming of medical marijuana plants is considered a legitimate farm use and is acceptable on ALR land.
In Maple Ridge, where a bylaw relegating medical grow-ops to farmland is in the works, the ALC statement was seen as confirmation of council's decision, which received criticism from rural residents at a public hearing in April, in addition to contradicting the position of the Lower Mainland Government Association.
Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin said the city has had problems with medical grow-ops in industrial areas in the past. "We had nearby tenants who had concerns about odour and security," he said. "We don't have an over-abundance of industrial land, but we have a lot of farmland in difficult terrain .... We're not talking about cornfields or blueberries."
It's a similar story in Vancouver. While the city isn't looking at a new bylaw, medical grow-op applications will only be considered in the two zones that allow agricultural uses, a spokesperson said. Further east, Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley Regional District are moving to keep growops out of the ALR and limited to industrial land specially zoned for enterprises such as slaughterhouses, asphalt manufacturers and sewage treatment plants.
Meanwhile, Surrey has made amendments to a bylaw dealing with the anticipated aftermath of the upcoming changes, which will see thousands of private growers left without licences. Council approved changes to the Controlled Substance Property Bylaw, which will require owners of residential properties containing medical grow-ops to remediate the facilities to protect future owners from health risks.
Among the varying municipal responses to the changing regulations, The Province found one common thread: All expressed concern about the process for dismantling medical grow-ops that will no longer have licences after April. "We know there are hundreds, if not thousands [of medical grow-ops in Metro Vancouver]," said Daykin. "In Maple Ridge, we've had three or four people indicate they'll be applying for a commercial licence. What about all the others?"
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Theprovince.com
Author: Glenda Luymes
Contact: Contact Us - The Province
Website: To grow or not to grow? That is the question
