Pubdate: Mon, 28 Nov 2016
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.pentictonherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664
Author: James Miller
Page: A1

POLL WILL ASK BUSINESSES FOR THEIR VIEWS ON MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Businesses in Penticton's downtown core will be polled this week on
the contentious issue of marijuana dispensaries. "The Downtown
Penticton Association cannot endorse or support the illegal use,
temporary or otherwise, of any retail space in downtown Penticton,"
DPA executive director Lynn Allin said in an interview with The Herald.

The issue is scheduled to come before Penticton city council at its
Dec. 6 meeting, when temporary-use permits could be allowed for as
many as seven dispensaries in Penticton. Three of them are for
locations on Westminster Avenue, three on Main Street (two of which
are downtown and one in the 1600 block) and one on Martin Street.

The 12-member DPA board met last week and established a temporary
stand on the issue.

With 600-plus members, the board would like their feedback.
Hand-delivered letters will be circulated beginning today.

"We want to reach out to the entire downtown community for their
feedback on what's a very important issue," Allin said.

"The board's position is that at the moment (marijuana) isn't legal
and therefore it can't be regulated properly. We want to go with what
the law says.

"It's an awkward situation. Municipalities are trying to regulate
individually. It's not the image we want to portray as a business 
community."

Downtown officials are also hoping to meet with RCMP to discuss issues
including enforcement.

Council is expected to hear at its Dec. 6 meeting a proposal from
staff to regulate marijuana dispensaries, which are operating in legal
limbo while the federal government moves towards legalizing the drug.

A suite of proposed bylaw amendments would give the city some control
over the siting and operation of dispensaries, such as mandating a
minimum distance from schools and requiring strict security measures.

The issue came to a head over the summer, when council heard from
three such pot shops that unsuccessfully appealed cancellations of
their business licences.

Some of them continue to operate while accumulating daily fines for
doing so. Mounties have taken a hands-off approach given the
reluctance of Crown prosecutors to approve charges pending the coming
legalization of marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Matt