CORNWALL, Ontario – Four inquiries have been made at city hall about setting up medical marijuana operations within Cornwall – but don’t expect to see anything built soon.
Planning staff at city hall will begin looking at drafting standards that will have to be followed should a medical marijuana operation gain a federal license to begin production within Cornwall.
Councillors at next week’s planning advisory committee meeting are expected to discuss, in broad terms, what kind of standards, and locations, a medical marijuana operation would have to meet should one consider setting up shop here.
Last year Health Canada introduced regulations pertaining to the commercial production of medical marijuana in those facilities which have secured a federal license.
“The license necessitates that the zoning on such facilities be appropriate,” says a report going to the planning committee Monday.
Many cities have introduced this new land use into their zoning bylaws using appropriate land use criteria. A city report later this year is expected to provide a review of the different approaches used by other municipalities, related to the introduction of medical marijuana operations.
“It should be noted that while hundreds of applications have been made to Health Canada, a small percentage have been approved,” reads a report from city senior planner Mary-Joyce Smith. “Municipalities which receive legitimate and complying facility proposals, and which are approved by Health Canada, stand to gain economically.”
Public comments on the matter are expected to be collected at a meeting scheduled for Aug. 24 at city hall.
The closest medical marijuana facility to Cornwall is located in Smiths Falls, though a Quebec company is looking to create such an operation in Bombay, N.Y., just over the international border.
