Osoyoos Council votes to support privately-owned cannabis retail outlets and prohibiting government-owned stores

Town of Osoyoos Council has voted in favour of allowing only private cannabis retail outlets to operate in the community and prohibiting government-operated stores in the small tourist town.

Following a lengthy debate that lasted almost 90 minutes on Tuesday, Osoyoos Council became what is believed to be the first community in the province to support only private business operators from operating cannabis retail outlets and voting against allow government-owned outlets to compete against private owners.

The Province had previously indicated that both private and government operated retail outlets would be permitted across B.C., similar to what is now in place with private and public liquor store businesses.

Gina MacKay, the Town’s director of planning and development, said it’s her understanding that the provincial government is allowing municipalities to decide on which model they want to adopt and her best information is banning public retail outlets owned operated by the Province is an acceptable model.

Coun. Mike Campol said he’s not in favour of the private/public model being recommended in many municipalities as he would rather see private owners benefit from running a solid, profitable business.

Noting his frustration at the provincial and federal governments “downloading” this issue of retail cannabis outlets to the municipal level, Campol said he believes there’s going to be tremendous demand to operate these stores in Osoyoos and across the province.

He would much rather support private business owners running successful businesses than having government stores come in and compete against them, he said.

When asked if municipalities have the right to opt in favour of only private retail outlets, MacKay said “I never considered that”, but it’s her understanding is the provincial government is allowing communities to establish their own models and rules and regulations

“My feeling is we should be looking at private only,” said Campol.

Coun. C. J. Rhodes agreed, while also criticizing senior levels of government for forcing municipalities to deal with this complex and controversial issue without providing sufficient information with less than four months until cannabis becomes legal in Canada on Oct. 17.

“This is just not fair. It’s not reasonable and it’s not cost effective for small communities like ours,” he said.

That being said, municipalities have no choice but to either ban retail outlets or support them with a solid set of rules and regulations in place, he said.

Recognizing that if the provincial government decides it wants to move into a community and open one or more retail outlets, it will “trump” any decision made by a municipal council, Rhodes said he supported Campol’s suggestion to allow only private owners to operate them.

If only private retail outlets are allowed, it would allow municipalities like Osoyoos to charge significant business license fees, which would help pay for the expected increases in bylaw enforcement and policing costs expected to come along with these new businesses, said Campol.

Municipalities are not allowed to charge business license fees at provincial liquor stores and he suspects the same rules would apply at provincially-owned cannabis retail outlets, he said.

Chief administrative officer Barry Romanko said his best understanding of the rules and regulations relating to cannabis retail outlets is similar to MacKay’s in that the province “is letting local government take the lead” in establishing where they can be located, how many, hours of operations, proximity to schools and playgrounds and other key regulations.

Council debated whether to institute “site specific” regulations for cannabis retail outlets or overall zoning regulations, before MacKay said she would return with more information on certain criteria to consider before granting a business license before the next meeting on July 16.

Alll members of Council agreed want restrictions on allowing any outlet near the community’s only two schools.

They also debated whether or not to allow them to open near the Town’s many parks, but this matter will be discussed further in the future.

“There are many different options for council to consider,” said MacKay.

Rhodes said he wasn’t prepared to make final decisions on things like zoning and hours of operation until he received more information and had more time to think about an issue he admits could be controversial in the community.

“This is very important and has the potential to be controversial … and I want to do the right thing,” he said.

Romanko noted that while cannabis will be legal in Canada on Oct. 17, there is nothing in place that says municipalities like Osoyoos that have now approved allowing cannabis retail outlets to operate must have the doors open by that date.

Early indications are that retail sales of cannabis will only include dried cannabis, cannabis oils and seeds that will all be produced by licensed commercial producers and distributed through a provincial wholesaler, said MacKay.

Some communities have taken a lead from the City of Vancouver and determined that the sale of cannabis should not be permitted within 300 metres (984 feet) of a school, a community centre, a park or another cannabis dispensary, she said.

For more information or to view Tuesday’s council meeting, visit the website at www.osoyoos.ca.