The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is struggling to create bylaws for micro cannabis operations.
“Some directors are concerned about treating cannabis differently than other types of agricultural uses,” regional planning manager Christopher Garrish said at Thursday’s meeting.
A micro cannabis operation is defined as a facility capped at 200 square metres. The concept came about after large scale cannabis producers stepped in following marijuana legalization one year ago.
“It made it very hard for small-scale producers to get a foothold in the industry, and so Health Canada devised this concept of a micro production facility,” Garrish said.
“How do we accommodate that within our existing zones? What are suitable locations given that the direction from the board is that large scale production facilities should be in industrial zones … if one type has to be in an industrial zone, what’s a suitable alternative for small scale?”
The RDOS recently held open houses in several communities seeking feedback. An overwhelming number of the negative responses came from Naramata, in direct response to one property on Arawana Road that is already in the process of building a small cannabis operation.
“People came out and they were very passionate about this whole issue,” RDOS board chair and Naramata area director Karla Kozakevich said. “There was a big concern from citizens asking why this should impact them in a residential neighbourhood, not realizing that the agricultural land was there first.”
Kozakevich put forward a proposal to give Area E, Naramata, exemption from small holdings cannabis operations and increased setback, as compared to other RDOS areas.
Brad Dollevoet, general manager of development services, mentioned concerns about making exceptions and setting different rules in various areas.
“That defeats the intent of getting consolidated bylaws across all our areas,” he said. “But I know this is a sensitive topic, especially in Area E.”
Main concerns from the Naramata community included noise, smell and traffic.
“There is a lot of information on the internet about the odours from these types of production facility. Technically it’s a greenhouse, and one associates greenhouses with bright lights, so there is concern about what that mean for their nighttime enjoyment of the skyline, I suppose,” Garrish said.
The RDOS didn’t make a decision at Thursday’s meeting but directed staff to look further into the matter.
“For us, it’s basically dealing with a new type of agricultural use, and not really having a frame of reference from the past on which to draw,” Garrish said.
“We’re kind of like the board. We’re trying to find the best practices we can put forward for their consideration and trying to balance that against what we’re hearing from communities in term of their concerns.”
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