Pot shop caught in crosshairs of policy change to be reconsidered

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The applicant’s then sought another location to open a cannabis business outside the business improvement area and signed a lease for a building on #200A 3107 48th Ave. in the Andre’s Plaza.

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The applicants wanted to transfer their application from the previous store that was to the one on 48^th Ave. but they were told by the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch that they would need to cancel their application and reapply. The applicants, according to their lawyer, received the notification on July 29, the same day city council placed a moratorium on cannabis applications in the entire city.

“We believe that the unfortunate timing of the rule changes, the fact that the overall number of potential stores in Vernon will not change from expectations of Council prior to the moratorium and the lack of public input opportunity or notice have resulted in unintended consequences leading to material financial loss and loss of opportunity,” Nahal stated.

Coun. Kari Gares, who put forward the moratorium restricting cannabis applications in the city in July, said that she understands the applicant’s situation but there was never a guarantee that an applicant would get approved by the province.

The applicant’s lawyer agreed but said the issue still resides in the timing of the rule changes.

“I agree 110 per cent there’s no guarantee that we all take a risk when we get into business. The issue is that when you have a set of rules that come into play and folks start to work on those rules on that basis and the rules are changed multiple times without enough timeframe that it becomes extremely difficult to even accomplish the task, that’s where it becomes very difficult to understand” Nahal said.

The city referred to the applicant’s situation as unique, but noted that they are unsure if others cannabis retail store applications are also having the same issue, now that they made the subsequent rule changes.

Coun. Kelly Fehr said that he would like to see how many other applicants are caught up in the same situation and asked staff to come back with that information at the next council meeting.

“I would like to know how many other businesses are caught up in the process too and if we can fast track the process with a couple of others that we need I think we should look at that,” Fehr said.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 16.