Pot building gets support
Colin Dacre - Oct 11, 2018 - Biz Releases

Photo: Contributed

An application to lay a gravel foundation for a cannabis processing building on ALR farmland in Summerland was supported and forwarded to Agricultural Land Commission by council Tuesday.

Sweet Valley Cannabis is seeking ALC approval to remove 1,290 cubic metres of soil and replace it with infill to allow for the construction of a large building to process medicinal marijuana.

Councillors echoed concerns from the district’s agricultural advisory committee and asked the ALC to pay particular attention to the proposed building’s impact on Prairie Creek, which runs through the property.

“It is currently a very swampy wet area,” Coun. Erin Carlson said, explaining she hopes the ALC will do to its homework and study how the building will interact with the creek, as it is out of the municipality’s jurisdiction.

Cannabis production is a lawful farm use on ALR land if it is produced outdoors or inside a greenhouse that has a base consisting of soil.

“The current proposal is for a processing facility, which will be accessory to the farm use, much like a winery building is accessory to a vineyard,” a staff report to council said.

“If this was a building for any other farm use, that required the same fill and all that, it would be easier to think about,” Carlson said.

District staff have yet to receive a building permit application for the facility or larger formal plans on how exactly cannabis will be grown on the property.

Council eventually agreed to forward the application to the ALC, with a specific note highlighting concerns about Prairie Creek.


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