The public will have a chance to have its say next week on an application to open Delta’s first recreational cannabis store.
A virtual public hearing takes place Tuesday (June 29) for council to hear from the applicant and residents on the proposal by Seed & Stone to open a cannabis dispensary at 616 Chester Road, located on Annacis Island.
The public hearing on the Seed & Stone application takes place on the City of Delta’s website –https://www.delta.ca/ - starting at 4 p.m.
The operation would be within a 3,638-square-foot portion of an existing multi-tenant industrial building.
The retail portion would be in a 1,001-square-foot storefront.
Prior to the legalization of cannabis in Canada in 2018, Delta council passed a bylaw prohibiting cannabis stores in all zones, but kept the door open to consider them on a case-by-case basis.
The idea was to restrict any new potential cannabis businesses to industrial zones.
Following council’s decision to send the Seed & Stone rezoning application to a public hearing, the Optimist Facebook page had quite a few comments in favour of the city allowing such businesses, but also not in favour of restricting them within industrial areas.
If approved in Delta, it remains to be seen if the new store will take advantage of a recent provincial government announcement allowing non-medical cannabis dispensaries to have direct delivery to consumers.
Stores can begin direct delivering July 15.
In response to industry feedback and as a result of experience gained with respect to security verification since legalization, the B.C. government also announced it is removing security verification requirements for cannabis workers.
The province notes it will eliminate delays in hiring, benefiting business owners.
It’s to enable legal retailers to hire staff more quickly to implement delivery and will reduce costs for industry and government.
