Pubdate: Fri, 14 Feb 2014
Source: Red Deer Advocate (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Black Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/QU97nuCm
Website: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2492
Author: Paul Cowley

APPLICATIONS TO GROW MEDICINAL MARIJUANA PUT COUNTIES IN A BIND

The federal government's decision to turn medical marijuana production
over to commercial-sized companies has left Central Alberta rural
municipalities playing catch-up.

Both Mountain View and Ponoka Counties have wrestled with medical
marijuana plant applications because they don't comfortably fit within
existing land-use bylaws.

Residents in Mountain View County were upset when a building permit
for a proposed medical marijuana plant was issued last October.

Under the existing Land Use Bylaw, Releaf Inc. was not required to
apply for a development permit because a facility for horticultural
use - which includes intensively cultivated plants for medicinal
purposes - is considered a permitted use.

In light of local reaction, a public meeting with county
representatives took place last week in Cremona to hear concerns.

Coun. Al Kemmere, who chaired the information meeting, said water
resources, odour, potential impact on property values, security and
the approval process were the main concerns.

Since agricultural buildings don't require a development permit,
residents "felt they didn't have a voice, and understandably so," said
Kemmere.

But security also loomed large as an issue. "There's a fear that this
is going to bring in . . . an element of the public they are not
accustomed to having in their neighbourhood."

Out of that gathering have come proposed amendments to the Land Use
Bylaw that will require future applications for medicinal
horticultural use to be located in industrial areas and business parks.

A public hearing on the amendments is set for Feb.
26.

In the meantime, Releaf Inc. is allowed to proceed with its
50,000-square-foot facility located about eight km northwest of
Cremona in the southwest corner of the county.

In Ponoka County, another medical marijuana operation, Canruderal
Inc., was turned down by the county's municipal planning commission
last November. It was appealed but the board upheld the original
decision last month.

Neighbouring residents were strongly opposed to the plant setting up
operation, with 16 letters of opposition sent to the county. Two
letters were received in support.

Security was the big concern, said chief administrative officer
Charlie Cutforth.

"The primary concern from the community was that this particular
location where it was proposed was 23 miles (37 km) from the nearest
RCMP detachment either way," he said.

The proposed facility itself would have been "built like Fort Knox" so
break-ins weren't a pressing concern.

"The bigger fear was that it will attract potentially undesirables in
a rural quiet community that doesn't need that.

"It wasn't a terribly emotional issue. It was just the fact this is
brand new and there is no proven sort of experience to determine
whether these concerns are founded or unfounded."

Cutforth said the proposed site was zoned country residential and
hobby farm and the plant was a discretionary use, which means council
has final approval.

It would have been a different story if the area had been zoned
agricultural, he said. "Technically, it's a legal agricultural pursuit
very similar to a greenhouse. If that had been the case, we would have
had the same difficult situation (as Mountain View County)."

Ponoka County will be taking a look at its bylaws and talking to other
municipalities to see how they plan to handle the issue.

"I think every municipality is going to be scrambling to try to deal
with it one way or the other," said Cutforth.

The question of how to deal with medicinal marijuana operations, which
are regulated by Health Canada, is expected to be a hot topic at the
Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties annual
conference next month.

The federal government announced that starting on April 1, only
commercial-sized companies will be able to produce and distribute the
plants to people with valid prescriptions.

Under the new rules, Canadians currently licensed to possess marijuana
for medical purposes will no longer be able to grow their own or buy
marijuana from small-scale producers.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D