Wheatland County questions Cannabis licencing

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County council had more discussion about cannabis production, when staff brought a few changes to bylaw 2018-28 on April 2.
All types of cannabis production and use were finalized by the federal government on Oct. 2, 2018 and county staff updated the bylaw to coincide with federal legislative conditions that were released at that time.
Previously, the bylaw only dealt with medical cannabis, so it was amended to reference recreational cannabis as well, under one heading and definitions. Staff proposed it be moved to an Industrial General from Intensive Industrial General designation.
They included types of cannabis production facilities licensing, which covers cultivation, processing, nursery, analysis, testing, research and micro-cultivation along with medical cannabis production.
The bylaw amendments include suggestions about setbacks, environmental and odour concerns, site descriptions and location, water servicing, waste management, lighting and housing, and handling of the product.
There are different security requirements for standard cannabis cultivation and processing.
Staff said there was interest from applicants about micro-cultivation and micro-processing.
In micro-cultivation, cannabis is allowed to be grown in a warehouse or greenhouse environment, or outdoor farming area under 2,152 square feet in size.
“Micro-cultivation, micro-processing, nursery, analytical or research license holders are not required to record the identity of every individual entering or exiting a storage area, nor are they required to install monitoring or recording devices or an intrusion detection system,” said Megan Williams, intermediate planner with Wheatland County in her report to council.
Given the developments in federal licensing, council had questions whether it should be considered as an agricultural crop, what could be confined to the Wheatland Highway West industrial areas and how they might deal with micro-cultivation and processing.
“I don’t see how we can do that because it is a specialty agricultural crop. It is now a legal crop to grow. We can pass this, but I don’t think it will do any good. In my opinion, it is unenforceable,” said Councillor Tom Ikert. “I see how well the federal government enforces everything else they do. I think we are getting ourselves into a situation. Love or hate marijuana, it is now a legal crop.”
He compared it to growing other greenhouse crops and microbrewery businesses. He thought it might be better controlled by where and how the product is sold.
Other councillors felt regulations were covered under federal legislation, so they were not sure there was a need to cover those in the bylaw.
“It is federal regulation, but we can’t trump federal regulation …but maybe we can add to it. Basically that says if the feds agree to it, it’s OK. Why is it in our bylaw?” said Deputy Reeve Glen Koester.
CAO Alan Parkin said applicants for a federal license must have an approval by their municipality, before federal officers can issue the license. Planners stated they were in the front lines to grant approval of the development permits, so a detailed bylaw makes that job easier.
“Like Tom says it is a legal crop to grow. We have a designated facility, where this is only allowed in the West Highway 1 District. Should we think about making it permitted? That is the only place in the county that is allowed,” said Councillor Jason Wilson.
He asked if small production facilities would be treated differently than large facilities.
Council thought perhaps they would need to look at the water usage of the facilities to be sure it met the needs of all residents in the county.
The Town of Strathmore submitted some questions about the structure of the bylaw. They wanted to coordinate with the county, especially on discretionary and permitted designations, security and beautification issues. Staff replied they had to comply with federal licensing rules and could not refuse applicants if they met those conditions.
The Strathmore RCMP asked if they would be notified of new cannabis businesses starting up and staff replied they currently did not notify them.
Council approved second and third reading of the bylaw submitted on April 2.