The Town of Bonnyville is continuing to chip away at the many levels of marijuana legislation.
During their March 13 meeting, council delved deeper into the specifics of municipal bylaws on cannabis in an effort to find common ground on the issue. With many different aspects to work through, town administration broke the matter down into three initial questions dealing with buffer zones, how the sale of cannabis should be listed for zoning purposes, and restricting signage and advertisements.
"We have a lot of questions and four different bylaws," said CAO Mark Power. "If we can get to first reading of a bylaw, then that's what we can take to the public and get feedback on at an open house."
Mayor Gene Sobolewski added, "It's all going to go to the public, but we need to start somewhere."
Debating buffer zones
When looking at buffer zones around community facilities, the minimum requirement set out for municipalities is that stores selling marijuana must be at least 100 metres from any schools and provincial healthcare facilities.
"The provincial healthcare facilities are those that are approved under Alberta Health as per the Health Act. We have two: the Bonnyville Healthcare Centre and the Bonnyville cancer centre. When we initially looked at it we had included AHS' office, mental health, Bonnylodge, and Extendicare, but those don't fall under the definition," explained director of planning and development Katherine Currie.
However, AHS has come out with recommendations of their own, suggesting there be a 300 to 500-metre distance between cannabis retail stores, a 300-metre buffer zone around schools, daycares, and community centres, and at least a 100-metre separation distance from tobacco and liquor stores.
"I think AHS' (recommendations) are overkill. At 300 metres, if you go with that you might as well become, for lack of a better term, a dry community," said Coun. Brian McEvoy. "I'm not comfortable with just 100 metres, because of where some of the lines run... But, I would be comfortable with 150 metres. I think at 150 metres it would push these facilities away from our centre but not so far that they only place to have them would be the industrial park."
Coun. Elisa Brosseau agreed, "I don't think 100 metres is enough, but I also don't want to go to 300 metres and block all of main street off entirely and push them into the industrial park. We want to encourage business and diversity in the community, so I think it would be good at 150 metres."
For some, the 150-metre separation wasn't quite far enough.
"I'm not comfortable with 300 metres or 100 metres, but the 200 metres seems to work for me. I don't want it near the residential area of town," expressed Coun. Ray Prevost. "I think at 200 metres, it's quite doable. If people want it, they're going to go get it. That's not a problem."
Councillors Lorna Storoschuk and Rene Van Brabant also spoke in favour of the 200-metre separation distance.
The other issue pressing on council's mind, was how to deal with home schools.
Since home schools are approved through Alberta Education, and aren't required to register with the municipality, they are still waiting for information on where the home schools within town limits are located.
As it sits right now, Currie explained, council could decide to exempt home schools from the separation distances.
The other issue left in council's hands is what to do if a home school, or other facility that would have a buffer zone, is put in place after a cannabis retail store is already up and running.
"Big time there's a downloading of all major responsibilities onto the municipality. There are some vague recommendations," stressed Sobolewski.
To keep the matter moving forward, council agreed on creating a visual presentation for the public showing both the 150-metre and 200-metre buffer zones to see what kind of feedback either distance garners.
"We'll go forward with a storyboard and say, "these are what they look like.' We're not trying to terminate the process, we're just trying to take a leap off of that high diving board," Sobolewski noted.
Council zones in on zoning
Town council also tackled the issue of what zoning the sale of cannabis should fit under in accordance with the town's land use bylaw.
"I think that all residential areas should be out, and I think we want to specifically state that so there's not a grey area," Power said, recommending the C1 central commercial district, C2 fringe commercial, and C3 highway commercial zones.
"Those are the ones, the commercial zones, that I think are the logical ones to list it (cannabis retail) as a discretionary use."
In addition to picking out the zones that the sale of marijuana would best fit within, council also has the ability to decide whether or not it's a permitted use within the specified districts or a discretionary use.
If it's permitted, town staff could sign-off on retail application so long as they fit the requirements. However, if they decide to mark it as a discretionary use, all applications for cannabis retail stores would come before the municipal planning commission (MPC) prior to approval.
"This is so new. I think we need to look at this, in a lot of ways, as liquor stores and the rules around their locations. But, I do agree that it should be discretionary use to bring it back before the MPC," stated McEvoy.
Coun. Chad Colbourne noted that, as a council, they would be singling out cannabis retailers, and not giving them a level playing field when it comes to setting up shop.
"If we're putting in all of these, why don't we have liquor stores having the same regulations within the Town of Bonnyville? Regardless of what the AGLC (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) says. We have seven liquor stores currently in Bonnyville right now."
Brosseau agreed, "I don't think we should be the ones to decide who opens a business... We want to have a diverse community, we want to have new businesses and jobs. I know it's an industry that not everyone might want, but there are liquor stores everywhere. Anyone in town will see all of the liquor stores and it's the first thing they say. I think if we have our zoning in place, I'm happy with just that."
Council agreed that, as a starting point, they would move forward with administration's recommendation of having cannabis retail listed under the commercial and industrial, among a few other zones, as a discretionary use.
Council in agreement on signage
All sides of the table were quick to come to a consensus on not implementing stricter signage and advertising rules for cannabis retailers, on top of what's already been set out by the government.
"From everything that I've read, for advertising and packaging the federal government has proposed strict rules about the advertising, labelling, and packaging," explained Currie. "They're going to be restricted to locations that the minors can't see and there are going to be limits on displays and in-store promotions, which is similar to what they've done to tobacco."
Council agreed that they felt the rules set out by the government were more than adequate.
While town council is making progress on their bylaws, there is still a long way to go prior to the legalization of marijuana. The town still has a number of matters to work through, before hosting an open house to gain public feedback, which is proposed for early May.
Even then, Power explained either level of government could come out with regulations that trump the municipality's. Whoever's rules are stricter are the ones that will be enforced, be it the federal government, province, or municipality.
