Delta council has approved a bylaw amendment prohibiting the production, storage, research or sale of medical marijuana anywhere in the municipality.
Civic politicians unanimously agreed to grant third reading to the bylaw Tuesday following a public hearing at municipal hall.
"The new methods of producing medical marijuana are coming, there is no question about that," said Coun. Bruce McDonald. "What Delta's intention here is to create a situation where the community has some control of the things that are happening within our community."
Tougher new federal rules that take effect April 1 will dramatically change how medical marijuana is grown and distributed. The regulations are aimed at permitting larger-scale operations over smaller, home-based ones.
Big dollars are at stake for those entrepreneurs fortunate enough to get federal and municipal approvals. According to Health Canada, the number of licensed medical marijuana consumers will rise to more than 300,000 in the next decade, a 10-fold increase from today.
Mayor Lois Jackson said the large number of home-based medical marijuana grow-ops have caused many problems, so the move toward larger, more controlled and supervised facilities is a good one. However, they aren't an appropriate use on farmland, she said.
"I find it very interesting that Vancouver said that marijuana should be grown on agricultural land. That was funny because they don't have any agricultural at all."
Only a few people spoke at Tuesday's public hearing.
Noting the federal government has over 400 applications to open growing facilities, but only a handful will ever get approved in B.C., Rick Brar applauded Delta's move, saying the municipality has the right to protect its agricultural land base.
Pointing to the tremendous benefits medicinal marijuana provides for patients, Ralph Howey was opposed, wondering why the municipality is getting involved.
Deputy planning director Marcy Sangret said anyone wishing to grow medical marijuana would still have the right to apply for a rezoning for a site-specific operation. Council would consider those applications on a case-by-case basis.
According to Delta's planning department, only one large production facility has set up shop in an industrial zone, but its federal licence expires March 31, so it must go through the new Delta rezoning and business licence approval process.
If any others were to be approved, the preference would be to have them locate in industrial zones as well.
Spencer Sangarah spoke in favour of the legislation, but asked if Delta would seriously consider allowing medical marijuana growing operations. He told the Optimist after his presentation he has been investigating establishing such a facility in a large, family-owned mill building in an industrial zone, saying the site seems ideal and would fit the new criteria. However, he's concerned about making any major investments at this point.
He added he's interested, like many others, in going into the business because it's been tough times for the mill.
Otto Folprecht, CEO of the company that has been operating for a year in Delta, said he still needs to work out what Delta is looking for in order to get a business licence under the new rules. He was reluctant to provide the name or location of his company, only that it supplies the Med Pot Now Society, a Vancouver-based dispensary.
Municipal hall says there's been "an upswing of interest in the establishment of medical marijuana production facilities on Delta's industrial and agricultural lands." The production of marijuana for medical purposes is a relatively new type of land use and Delta's current zoning bylaw doesn't have a definition for it, nor does the bylaw specify any zones where it's explicitly permitted.
