City OKs pot growing on farms

By Ron Seymour The Daily Courier THURSDAY, 20 MARCH 2014 02:00
Medical marijuana-growing operations could be allowed on Kelowna farms after all. City councillors have reversed an earlier position and now say they're open to permitting commercial pot-production on properties within the Agricultural Land Reserved on a case-by-case basis.
"We have decided to re-think this issue," Mayor Walter Gray said Wednesday. "There are some places within the land reserve which would probably work really well for this kind of business, and others where it would absolutely not work, mostly because of their proximity to residential areas," Gray said. Having council consider each application on its own merits - the same as it does for other types of development proposals affecting farmland - would serve both the would-be pot grower's interests and those of the broader community, Gray said. A lawyer representing potential producers of medical marijuana said she was generally pleased with council's decision. "I'm happy overall," Jennifer Thorne said. "I think it's a reasonable decision. They didn't go as far as I would have liked, which is full inclusion on ALR land." In early March, council unanimously accepted a staff suggestion to restrict commercial pot-growing ventures licensed by Health Canada to industrial properties. Given the kind of large, highly-secured structures required for such facilities, councillors agreed with staff's contention that the businesses were a better fit for industrial than agricultural lands. But councillors reversed their position at a public hearing held Tuesday at City Hall. A number of people told councillors commercial marijuana productions would be appropriate and desirable in farming areas. And no one spoke against the idea, Gray noted. Council also agreed to allow commercial pot productions on all types of industrial land, not just the few classifications that were originally being considered. "We have expanded the areas where this activity could take place, no question," Gray said. Pending the necessary bylaw changes, expected within a few months, each application from people wanting to establish medical marijuana growing ventures on farmland would be considered individually by council. Before approval is given, council would consider such things as the venture's location, its proximity to residential areas, and the design of the proposed facility. Each application for commercial pot production would also be subject to a public hearing, meaning owners of nearby properties would have the chance to comment on the proposal. After a public hearing last week, West Kelowna decided to permit commercial pot-growing ventures only on industrial lands. Several other B.C. cities have taken the same approach.