Image: Supplied by Pexels /Chilliwack City Council will vote on a proposed downtown cannabis retail store at its meeting this Tuesday.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack cannabis

Council to vote on proposed cannabis store in downtown Chilliwack this week

Jul 16, 2022 | 7:25 AM

CHILLIWACK — A proposal to establish a non-medical cannabis retail store does not have the support of municipal staff before Chilliwack City Council votes on it this coming Tuesday.

City of Chilliwack planning staff are recommending that council not approve the application for a cannabis retail store at 46020 Yale Road, located in the downtown Save-on Foods shopping plaza.

Cannabis stores have cropped up throughout Chilliwack following the federal legalization of cannabis in October 2018. That same year, Chilliwack council adopted a C8 cannabis retail zone designation that requires a minimum 300-metre buffer to mitigate exposure to children and youth, and avoid a market saturation of too many cannabis retailers in one commercial area.

The concept behind the buffer was to ensure a minimum distance of 300 metres from schools and playgrounds, supportive housing facilities that serve vulnerable youth, and other permitted cannabis retailers.

Salish Park, which contains a playground and is located next to the downtown Chilliwack library, is only 100 metres from the site. Veterans Memorial Park is only 189 metres away, and Rain City Housing, which operates a supportive housing complex at 45944 Yale Road, is 289 metres from the proposed cannabis retailer.

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Since the proposed site does not meet the minimum distance standards, staff are asking council to not support the temporary use permit application.

The applicant, Joseph Chouinard, submitted a petition of nearby residents that showed 100 people supported the proposed cannabis store, while 11 people were opposed. Two of the 11 people opposed wrote that it was too close to schools.

Nearby students from Chilliwack Secondary and Chilliwack Middle School often walk past the shopping centre on Yale Road after school.

According to city staff reports, the applicant pursued a temporary use permit rather than a rezoning application, in an effort to demonstrate to the public and Chilliwack council that the proposed business could successfully integrate into the area.