After previous council denial, a second retail cannabis store will now be opening on George Street.
Epik Products Inc. for Healx Medical Corporation Inc., once again requested a temporary use permit that would allow them to open a cannabis retail store at 356 George St. in the in the old Long & McQuade building during last night’s (Nov. 9) council meeting.
The company’s request for a temporary use permit was previously denied by council in mid-September because of its proximity to an existing cannabis retail store.
As the location is only 60 metres away from Grasshopper Retail, administration recommended denying the application because it may recreate an over-proliferation of retail cannabis use in the downtown core.
“I think this is another group of individuals that are willing to invest in downtown and I think it says a lot. I would encourage my council colleagues to support this application and give them the temporary use permit, see how it goes and we can go from there,” said Coun. Brian Skakun.
“As far as saturation in the market, the market will look after itself. It might have to make some adjustments down the road but that is not the call of council.”
Many of the councillors around the horseshoe expressed, after further research, they were now willing to support the application, expect for Coun. Cori Ramsay.
“I am really struggling around the fact that if these were two liquor stores this wouldn’t be allowed," she said.
"For me treating liquor and cannabis stores the same way is really important so we are consistent across the board."
The city’s cannabis distancing policy is discretionary
General Manger of Planning Ian Wells clarified the city’s distancing policy regarding liquor and cannabis stores, noting that its policy is discretionary and can be altered on a case-by-case basis.
“Liquor has a 1.6 km policy and we adopted the same policy when we were bringing cannabis in for consistency, but overall it’s worth noting that the province has no overall distancing for cannabis retail store but they do have a 1 km distance for liquor stores.”
Coun. Kyle Sampson said he believes the city’s policy on liquor distancing was antiquated and that he was in support of Epik Products Inc.’s temporary use application.
“We are not here to dictate market demand or anything like that. We are here to determine the use of land for the retail of this product and there is no policy provincially that requires us not to do this.”
After some more discussion, Coun. Skakun moved for the temporary-use permit that would allow Epik Products Inc. to open a retail cannabis store at 356 George Street to be approved, and it was passed 8-1 with Coun. Ramsay voting against.
Prince George’s first cannabis retail store passes public hearing for permanent rezoning
Grasshopper Retail also attended a public hearing later on in the council meeting, requesting permanent rezoning for its location at 421 George St.
The company has been operating since July 2019 with a three-year temporary use permit, as the city was waiting to see the effects of cannabis retail in the downtown before allowing for permanent rezoning.
“We are coming back to you know that we have been in operations for a year-and-a-half to see if we can get fully rezoned,” said one of the business owners, Sandra Przysieny, to council.
“We have purchased our building earlier this year so we are more committed and lucky to be downtown and be so successful and have a good customer base. We haven’t seen any negative impacts so far and we haven’t had any problems with bylaw or RCMP as well.”
There were no comments made either in person or by-phone during the public hearing.
“I think they are pioneers as far as how to get this done,” said Coun. Skakun. “They have had to jump through hurdles and have made a significant investment in their operation downtown and I think they have done a great job.”
Grasshopper Retail was the first retail cannabis store in the city to get approval and open its doors after cannabis was legalized.
“Overall I think they have been a great example of how cannabis businesses can work in our community and so I am going to happily support this application,” added Coun. Sampson.
The third reading for the Grasshoppers permanent rezoning was unanimously approved by council.
Two other cannabis retail stores, located outside of the downtown core – one at 2626 Vance Road and the other at 6055 Monterey Road – also had public hearings for rezoning.
No public comments were made for either location, and third reading for the associated rezoning bylaw amendments were also approved unanimously by council.
