Pubdate: Sat, 12 Apr 2014
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Page: A3
Copyright: 2014 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Spencer Anderson

COUNCILLORS TO DEBATE HOT TOPICS

Delegates From Dozens Of Municipalities Meet On Weekend To Talk
Medicinal Pot, Animal Trapping, Etc.

Representatives from the City of Nanaimo are headed to Parksville and
Qualicum Beach this weekend to debate a handful of hot topics with
other coastal communities.

Delegates from dozens of cities, towns, districts and villages will
take part in the Association of Vancouver island and Coastal
Communities 2014 conference, and will debate a number of resolutions
requesting action on the part of the province.

Among the list will be a resolution from Nanaimo calling on the
province to remove medical marijuana production as a "farm use" for
tax assessment purposes.

The resolution also asks the government to grant municipalities the
power to regulate the production of medicinal pot within the
agricultural land reserve through land use provisions in the local
government act.

The topic of medical marijuana has recently seized the attention of
municipalities due to changing regulations at the federal level.

Health Canada now issues licences to large, commercial growers to
produce medical marijuana, and is working to phase out older rules
that allow individuals to grow their own or others' pot, so long as
they have a proper licence.

Municipalities want more control over how these facilities are planned
on ALR lands. In the case of Nanaimo, the city wants to ensure that
marijuana producers are not assessed the same way as farm land, which
results in lower taxation than industrial or light industrial properties.

The city faced this very issue last year, when a proponent put forward
a rezoning request on industrial land in Duke Point. City hall was
worried that once a facility was up and running, the owners could
apply to have the property assessed as farm land. The proponent,
Lafitte Ventures, signed a covenant restricting land use at the site
to marijuana production. However, the city wants the province to
address the issue.

Other resolutions proposed by Nanaimo include a resolution calling on
the province to speed up approval local bylaws on animal trapping.
Nanaimo and other municipalities like Surrey, Sechelt and Vernon are
awaiting a response from the government to bylaws that would regulate
the use of body or leg-hold traps to catch animals in those
jurisdictions.

Nanaimo council has already voted to cease the use of live-trapping to
manage beavers and other wildlife.

A third resolution put forward by Nanaimo also calls for tougher
penalties for council or regional board members who reveals
confidential information from in-camera meetings, including
disqualification from office and prosecution under the Offence Act.

The conference goes on until Sunday.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D