The District of North Vancouver gave the greenlight to a proposal for a cannabis shop on Marine Drive Monday night, while another proposal for a shop on the same street went up in smoke.
Council voted 5-1 to approve the applicant’s request to open a cannabis retail store, Budhouse, at 1199 Marine Dr., in the Norgate neighbourhood.
Budhouse currently operates five provincially licensed shops around B.C. The proposed cannabis shop is to be located in an existing retail space in a single-storey commercial building at Marine Drive and Pemberton Avenue, not far from the planned Lions Gate Village town centre and within the Marine Drive corridor.
The proposal was weighed against the district’s own cannabis policy. The policy was passed last year and includes rules such as limiting pot shops to one per town centre, mandating that shops be at least 200 metres from a school, and can’t exceed operating hours outside of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
A virtual public hearing was held for the proposed pot shop at 1199 Marine Dr. on July 14.
Eight members of the public had their say on the proposal, with roughly half speaking in favour of the project and the other half raising concerns.
Several speakers noted the cannabis shop was too close to nearby Smiling Stars Daycare, at Pemberton Avenue and West 16th Street.
While acknowledging the daycare issue, Coun. Jordan Back said there had been little opposition overall to the cannabis shop and that it was proposed at an appropriate site.
“I think overall this is still a good location. It’s on a very busy corridor with frequent transit,” said Back.
Coun. Megan Curren supported advancing the cannabis shop, noting the applicant’s proposal adhered to all of the criteria the district had previously outlined in its cannabis policy.
“I supported this one based on the policy, but I am open to whatever the process would be of reviewing that if the community and council thought that this isn’t the right policy,” said Curren.
While one pot shop on Marine Drive was approved, another application was rejected.
Council voted 4-2 to reject an application from Hobo Cannabis to open a pot shop at 1629 Marine Dr., also in Norgate.
A public hearing for the cannabis shop was held on July 14. Three members of the public spoke about the project at the hearing.
In a staff report to council from earlier this year, it was recommended that the district reject the application because it was the second referral for a pot shop the municipality had received in the area, and under its policy the district can have a single pot shop in a town centre or key-growth area.
The report also noted that, in contravention of the district’s cannabis policy, there wasn’t enough on-site parking available at 1629 Marine to facilitate a cannabis shop.
“Our task is not to re-argue the merits of legalization, but to consider very specifically the siting of cannabis shops. Ours is a land-use task,” said Coun. Jim Hanson. “Eleven ninety-nine Marine Drive does meet all of the criteria of the policy. Sixteen twenty-nine, meanwhile, does not meet the parking requirement. I believe one cannabis shop in this general vicinity is sufficient to meet community needs.”
Coun. Mathew Bond argued the district’s cannabis policy sometimes put the municipality in the position of having to pick winners and losers.
“I think because of the process, and because of the policy decision that we’ve made for one store in one centre, it does seem like council picks winners in this process,” said Bond. “I lean more towards, at the beginning of this process, having the industry who is coming forward with these proposals and putting a significant amount of time and investment in choosing a site, to having it a little bit more open at the beginning. I think that over time, the sites that are going to be successful will be successful.”
Coun. Betty Forbes, who voted against both Marine Drive pot shop applications, said she didn’t support either shop proceeding because of their locations, especially because a provincially run BC Cannabis Store has applied to open a retail space relatively close by as well.
“It bears repeating that we said we were going to take things in baby steps,” said Forbes.
Coun. Lisa Muri was not present for Monday’s virtual council meeting.
