City putting some of Vernon's pot shops out of business
VERNON - The City of Vernon will be telling some local pot shops to shut down after they failed to meet provisions for a temporary permit.
Cannabis shops were required to enter into an agreement with the City in February if they wanted to be considered for a temporary use permit allowing them to stay open until the provincial government lays out specific laws for the retail sale of marijuana.
There are roughly a dozen pot shops in Vernon, and the City’s director of community infrastructure Kim Flick says a number of them agreed to register a covenant on title stating they would close down if, in the future, zoning bylaws do not permit the retail sale of cannabis in that location. An undisclosed number of other shops did not register the covenant by deadline, and will now be told to shut down.
“The City will be communicating with them in the immediate future to advise them to close,” Flick says.
Shops granted temporary use permits will be allowed to keep operating and will now be subject to the City’s bylaws. Previously, they were unregulated.
The cost of doing business will be a $5,000 application fee, plus an annual $2,000. That’s the highest fee for getting a business license in Vernon — the only other business charged $2,000 a year is the casino — but Flick says it’s necessary to cover the costs involved.
“When a business sets up for the first time that’s where the lion’s share of the costs come into play. We do think $5,000 will be the cost to the City,” she says.
The City is anticipating extensive costs specific to cannabis retail stores, including community consultation, bylaw services, and checking fire and building codes. As a comparison, Flick says Vancouver charges $30,000 for a business license to operate a pot shop.
Many municipalities have gone the route of ordering shops to close down until a clear regulatory framework is set out by the Province, but Vernon wanted to make sure residents could continue to access medical marijuana.
Only dispensaries that were in operation prior to Nov. 14, 2017 were eligible for temporary use permits.
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