With pot legalization just a few months away, the Village of Nakusp wants to know what citizens think the local rules for retail stores should be.
The administration is planning a survey asking for local input on where stores should be allowed in Nakusp - or if any should be allowed at all.
“Under the Community Charter a Council may, by bylaw, regulate businesses and that includes the power to prohibit and impose requirements respecting persons, property and things and activities in relation to the business,” advises a report to the council by the Chief Administrative Officer, Laurie Taylor.
Taylor notes that local municipalities will have some say over the location and operation of non-medical cannabis retail outlets, including:being able to grant or withhold support for a proposed retailer- approval by the local council must be given by council resolution, or a licence to sell won’t be granted; controlling their locations through zoning, including setting distances from schools, homes and other businesses; municipalities can set the number of stores to be allowed, or ban them altogether; setting hours of operation. Provincial law will default to allowing them open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; controlling public consumption, the way municipal non-smoking bylaws exist now for beaches, parks and other public spaces; setting business licence fees
Taylor notes the council already has rules in place setting licence fees, zoning regulations for medical marijuana production facilities, and a smoking bylaw. And under current council zoning rules, a retail cannabis outlet would be like other retail outlets, a permitted use in the downtown area, lakeshore, and institutional zones.
But before businesses start opening up without regulations, law firms advising other municipalities have suggested councils move quickly to set rules on:the number of shops they allow, their security arrangements, when they can operate, and where; proof of provincial licensing needed from the proposed retailer, and proof their staff have undergone training; a system for public consultations for any retail outlets, and set fees to hold those consultations; creating a new business category and setting licence fees for it; controlling public consumption.
But before setting any of those rules, the administration recommended council go to the public for input.
Council decided on Monday to send a survey out to every village resident via bulk mail, asking their opinion on all the various options for retail pot.
That survey should be in people’s mailboxes in the next few days. Council hopes to review the issue at the April 23th council meeting.
The federal government has passed the Cannabis Act, Bill C-45, which will legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While there’s no clear date for the change to take place, it is expected to be by late summer.
