Cochrane town council gave Bylaw 23/2015 – Amendment to Land Use Bylaw 01/2004 – Horticultural Use – Medical Cannabis its second and third reading on Jan. 25 at the regular council meeting. The first reading for this bylaw was at the council meeting on Dec. 14.
Bylaw 23/2015 would apply to future medical cannabis facilities within the Town of Cochrane.
According to the Town of Cochrane council report, the proposed use of this bylaw will be “the cultivation, processing, testing, packing, storage, and shipping of cannabis for medicinal use.” The bylaw will allow the Town of Cochrane to regulate the location of future proposals and utilize the Development Permit process to ensure cohesive development.
The bylaw would allow these facilities in Cochrane’s Business Park District (M-BP) and General Industrial District (M-1)
Coun. Mary Lou Davis-Eckmeier had concerns about the proposed distance of 75 metres the facility would need to be away from residential areas and schools.
Drew Hyndman, the town’s senior planner of development services, explained the rationale behind the 75-metre distance from residences and schools mirrors the regulations Calgary currently has in place. Rocky View County’s regulations use a 400-metre distance, Wheatland County’s regulations use a 40-metre distance, and St. Albert’s regulations use a 150-metre distance.
After debating, Coun. Davis-Eckmeier made a motion to “air on the side of caution” and increase the distance to 150 metres.
“The regulations around these facilities are ridiculously restrictive – it’s very tightly controlled. So the notion of a lot of mischievous on-goings within 75 metres or 150 metres I think is pretty redundant,” Mayor Ivan Brooker said.
“The further we have these facilities away from our communities and schools, I don’t see that there can be anything wrong with that,” said Coun. Gaynor Levisky, weighing in on the debate.
Coun. Ross Watson pointed out another side to the issue.
“We could probably, with our bylaws, allow a lot of uses that could be far more toxic or dangerous to the community – so would we only have this (restrictive distance) for medical marijuana operations or would we have to, in theory, extend it to anything we deemed socially unacceptable or dangerous to residential areas and schools?” Coun. Watson said.
“I think by changing it to 150 metres what we’re saying is we tampered with the bylaws to say no without saying no. The 75 metre requirement that’s already there shows diligence without prejudice.”
Currently the town doesn’t have any applications for this type of facility but wants to be prepared ahead of time.
“We want to be prepared so we don’t have a situation where in a residential community, somehow through some loophole, someone has permission and then has the opportunity to open a facility in one of our neighbourhoods,” said Hyndman.
Coun. Davis-Eckmeier made a motion to give the bylaw a second reading with the amendment that the facility must maintain a distance of 150 metres from schools and residential areas. The motion was carried. She then motioned to give the bylaw a third reading, which was also carried.
