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The City of Vernon is prepared to take action and shut down two cannabis dispensaries who have not entered into the restrictive covenant set for by the city council.
So far, 14 dispensaries out of the 16 operating in Vernon have either entered the covenant or are in the process of entering, but two have not been communicating with city staff.
“A letter has been drafted with input from legal counsel to communicate with those dispensaries that do not register the restrictive covenant to set out procedures for closing down operations.”
In an update to the city council, staff further stated that “It is expected that any property not having the covenant registered by the end of May will be subject to enforcement procedures to close down operations.”
The original deadline for compliance with the covenant was set for February.
The restrictive covenant is designed to bring recreational-use cannabis businesses into compliance with City of Vernon licensing and bylaw.
It works as a legal agreement registered on the title of the property that specifies, if cannabis shops are not permitted in the location under zoning, the business agrees to shut down.
In April the City of Vernon took another step towards setting regulations around recreational-use cannabis dispensaries by setting its application and licensing fees.
There will be a $5,000 application fee and a $2,000 business licensing going forward after that.
The $2,000 business licensing fee is the highest annual fee issued by the city and corresponds with the casino.
The City of Vernon issued temporary use permits to recreational-use cannabis stores while it waits for the province to work out its criteria.
The province will set the regulations around recreation-use cannabis sales; however, each application to the province must have a resolution of support from city council before the province will consider issuing a retail cannabis sales license.
The federal government will set the regulations around the medicinal stream of cannabis.
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