Kelowna city council is being advised not to allow stores that sell marijuana to be located on two streets downtown once non-medicinal cannabis becomes legal in Canada this fall.
In a report to go to council Monday afternoon, city planning staff say cannabis-product sales establishments should not be allowed on any lot on Lawrence or Leon Avenues between Bertram Street and Abbott Street.
“This is due to concerns about the high concentration of social support services in this area, and wanting to support efforts to revitalize this area of the City’s downtown,” says the report.
The report also recommends shops be a minimum of 500 metres away from middle or secondary schools and the same distance way from other stores selling the drug.
“The establishment of setbacks is anticipated to limit the number of locations where the retail sale of non- medical cannabis occurs,” says the report. “It is still expected to allow for a number of locations within the City of Kelowna, in existing areas of commercial and industrial zoning, to meet the needs of the city’s residents.”
Medical cannabis will continue to be legally sold online by federally licensed producers only, notes the report.
Stores would be subject to rezoning applications and those would require public hearings.
Related: Pot shops closing; Kelowna moves forward under new rules
In addition to proposed location rules, the city is also looking at setting Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 as the period to allow applications for rezonings.
While the sale of cannabis will be legal in Canada, the smoking of pot in public, including city parks, will not be allowed in Kelowna as per city rules.
As it has done with cigarette smoking in parks and other public places, the city will ban smoking or vaporizing marijuana, except in designated smoking areas.
The province’s Cannabis Control and Licensing Act further regulates consumption in public, says the report. It prohibits smoking and vaping of cannabis everywhere tobacco smoking and vaping are prohibited, as well as at playgrounds, sports fields, skate parks and other place where children commonly gather.
The use of cannabis is also prohibited on school properties and in vehicles. Landlords and strata councils will be able to further restrict or prohibit non-medical cannabis smoking and vaping at tenanted and strata properties.
The federal government has said cannabis will be legal in Canada in October.
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