The Town of Sundre cannot prevent or ban the sale of recreational cannabis once the federal and provincial governments officially approve the final legal framework.
“There is nothing in the legislation that would allow us to prohibit it,” chief administrator officer Linda Nelson informed council during the May 28 meeting.
However, there are some measures the municipality can employ to supplement the new regulations.
Council discussed revisions to Sundre’s land use bylaw that were drafted to accommodate impending legal frameworks for the anticipated legalization of recreational cannabis, which is expected to happen later this summer or early fall.
The federal government will outline and enforce production regulations as well as possession limits, while provincial governments will be responsible for, among other considerations, developing legal frameworks for distribution and wholesaling.
Meanwhile, municipalities can further create additional bylaws governing education, taxation, retail location and rules, public consumption as well as land use and zoning, states the Alberta government’s website.
“We’re looking at amendments to the land use bylaw to supplement some controls on the distribution and sale of cannabis,” Mike Marko, director of planning and economic development, told council.
The province has identified cannabis dispensaries as retail stores in its legal framework, but has offered municipalities the authority to include further controls on retail cannabis, said Marko.
Included among the provincial framework is for retail cannabis stores to have a minimum setback of 100 metres from public institutions such as hospitals and schools. However, he said the provincial government has left room in its legislation to allow municipalities to establish further controls such as setting greater setbacks “if we wish to do so."
Administration compiled a list of numerous questions for the public, and sought council’s permission to post the survey online as well as advertise it in print.
“We’d like to solicit some input from the community to see how they view these particular issues, and whether or not they feel that the provincial requirements that have been set are appropriate, or would they like us to delve into some further issues through our land use bylaw,” he said.
I think it’s commendable that the municipality is not only seeking additional input from residents, but also allowing the possibility of establishing slightly stricter regulations as deemed fit by the community.
So I would urge anyone who has an opinion one way or another to respond to the survey. Even people who agree with the laws as proposed by the province should find a few minutes to let council know their position so that any amendments made to the municipality’s land use bylaw are representative of the whole, as opposed to a vocal minority.
The survey is live on the municipality’s website, www.sundre.com, until Tuesday, June 26 at 4 p.m.
