PENHOLD - Like every other municipality across the province the Town of Penhold has been hard at work getting ready for the Oct. 17 deadline for legalized cannabis.
“I think we are as ready as we can be,” said Mike Yargeau, Penhold mayor. “I think a lot of how this rolled out from the federal and provincial governments was rushed and with a lot of onus on the municipalities to make themselves ready for this.”
“We’re ready to learn, change and adapt if we need to also.”
The town held an open house on the Land Use Bylaw on Oct. 11, which also regulates the retail side of cannabis.
“There was a mix of some developers interested in the bylaw from a development side and some residents that were curious (what was going in), mainly surrounding the retail cannabis portion.
“A lot of people wanted to make sure (stores) can’t be too close to schools and you can’t sell (cannabis) out of your house,” said Yargeau, whose community will allow restricted public consumption of cannabis.
He said retail shops would set up in the commercial part of town, referring to the Hawkridge Plaza area and annexed lands.
"With our newly annexed lands, we’ve got some commercial area identified there that would be (suitable), providing they’re more than 100 metres from any school,” he said.
The town has had several inquiries about retail cannabis opportunities, Yargeau added.
“Once we pass our (land use) bylaw with our setbacks and limitations that we are able to put in, then if (shops) meet those requirements, they would be granted a business licence,” explained Yargeau, noting the need to find a balance when it comes to numbers.
“We don’t want a dozen cannabis shops opening up in town and it seems at this point, there’s almost a bit of prospecting opportunity,” said Yargeau. “Everyone thinks this is the next big gold rush so they’re trying to get in on it.”
