Vernon council approves two more cannabis stores, despite opposition

Jan 26, 2021 | 7:00 AM

Downtown Vernon is at capacity for marijuana retailers as far as many business owners are concerned, but Vernon council felt they had no option but to support applications to the B.C. government for approval.

Seven letters were received on two marijuana retailer applications. All letters cited negative consequences of approving more stores.

“We are already known as the the pot capital of B.C., and that’s really saying something. I must say by virtue of having more pot stores per capita than even Nelson, good grief,” Coun. Scott Anderson said. “That is not a legacy I want to leave behind.”

In a report to city council about six months ago, bylaw and the RCMP reported that there have not been any issues specific to downtown cannabis stores.

“It’s permitted in the area. We said we would allow six in the BIA (business improvement area). It’s the open market, and these business owners have made an investment based on the rules we set out,” Coun. Kelly Fehr said.

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The non-refundable application fee for a cannabis retail store is $5,000.

The first shop application is for a storefront at 3315 30th Avenue on the same block as existing retailer Hive Cannabis.

3315 30th Avenue Vernon. (photo/City of Vernon)

“I would state that I am opposed to this license application. Firstly I think that there are already more than enough cannabis retail outlets in Vernon. Although competition is healthy, at this scale, the viability of the existing retail outlets is already stretched,” Hive owner Neil Rockerbie said in his letter. “Secondly this retail outlet is located within a stone’s throw of Hive Cannabis and I would question the need for another cannabis outlet in such close proximity.”

The second application is at 3116 30th Avenue in the former Okanagan Cannabinoid Therapy store.

3116 30th Avenue (photo/City of Vernon)

“We feel an additional cannabis retailer in the downtown core is a negative. Vernon’s downtown should be a vibrant mix of shops and services. Multiple cannabis retailers in the downtown gives the sense of a’ Drug Alley’ in the downtown and attracts loitering of persons in the drug culture, as opposed to families and tourism,” Roxanne Petruk, RMT and executive director of Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy, stated in her letter to council.

If approved by the provincial liquor and cannabis licensing branch, there would be 21 government sanctioned stores in Vernon. In addition there is one on Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) IR6 near the airport, and more than a dozen on the so called Green Mile, on OKIB IR1 along Westside Road.

by Kevin Rothwell

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