Image: City of Chilliwack / Chilliwack Councillor Jeff Shields said at last week's council meeting that Chilliwack is fairly well serviced by the number of cannabis stores around the city.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Cannabis store application

Chilliwack councillors deny cannabis store application, with 1 growing weary of more stores

Dec 23, 2024 | 10:37 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack Councillor Jeff Shields had no qualms denying a motion to advance a proposed cannabis store on Young Road near Elements Casino last week.

But it wasn’t entirely due to the proposed store at 8247 Young Road being located within 300 metres of a park, even if the park seldom gets used if ever.

Item 7.10 on last Tuesday’s council agenda asked councillors to give first and second reading to an application to rezone a portion of 8247 Young Road from a C5 liquor primary zone to a C8 cannabis retail zone, and call a public hearing for January 14, 2025. Councillors were asked to consider a variance to permit the cannabis store since it was located within 300 meters of a nearby park that was dedicated to veterans.

However, Councillor Jeff Shields didn’t share much of an appetite for yet another cannabis store in Chilliwack.

“For one, I think we’re probably fairly well serviced in Chilliwack as far as cannabis stores, and I don’t really feel like we need any more,” said Shields, an accountant who is serving his second council term. “On top of that, I don’t really feel that a variance is necessary in this case. I wouldn’t suspect that anything anybody has to say at a public hearing is going to change my feeling on this.”

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Councillor Nicole Read said the City of Chilliwack would set an undesirable precedent by moving the application through the legislative process.

“I want to bring up that I think we’re setting a precedent by pushing this one through to a public hearing, if we were to allow this to move forward, that we’re going to allow cannabis within other areas around parks in areas that are less than 300 meters,” Read said. “I think that it doesn’t make sense for us to move on this bylaw. I’m not in favour of moving this forward.”

Image: City of Chilliwack / Councillor Nicole Read spoke against a cannabis store at last week’s council meeting.

When the City of Chilliwack created and implemented a C8 commercial zone for cannabis businesses, they took into effect potentially adverse community impacts of storefront cannabis by limiting inappropriate exposure to minors and avoiding an undesirable concentration of storefront cannabis retailers throughout the city’s commercial corridors. As a result, council approved a minimum 300-meter buffer requirement from schools, parks, playgrounds, supportive housing facilities that serve vulnerable youth, and other permitted cannabis retailers to mitigate these factors.

The proposed cannabis store is located within 300 meters of a nearby park, Sapper Park, which acts as more of a monument to veterans rather than a place to sit or for kids to enjoy a playground, as there are no facilities at the park. The applicant behind the proposed cannabis store had asked city staff to waive the 300-meter buffer requirement.

Image: City of Chilliwack / Proposed cannabis store at 8247 Young Road in Chilliwack.

Councillor Chris Kloot said considerable effort went into developing the regulations around C8 cannabis zoning.

“I would tend to agree with the wisdom that I hear from my colleagues across the table here,” he said. “If we are going to open it up for one [store], we’ll certainly have to entertain others with variances. I know a lot of thought had gone into, how are we going to create that parks are going to be protected from these outlets. I wouldn’t be in support of this recommendation.”

The motion simply died, meaning no councillors supported the application.