Cannabis rule amendments suggested
By Gillian Slade on August 11, 2018.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade Bylaw amendments such as a licence fee of $1,000 this year for a cannabis retail store, no home delivery of the product and no mobile stores, will go before council after a recommendation from the development and infrastructure committee this week. The licence fee would increase to $1,020 next year and $1,040 in 2020. The fee for a cannabis production and distribution facility would be $500 this year, increasing to $510 in 2019 and $520 in 2020. “This is an estimate. We don’t really have anything hard to base this on, how much extra work it’s going to take,” said Kent Snyder, general manager of planning and development services, noting it could be adjusted in about 18 months. “Hopefully we’re close to the right mark.” Other retail and manufacturing licence fees are in the range of $92 to $164. Higher cannabis licensing fees helps to compensate for the additional work required by the city, said Snyder. He says factors taken into account include the amount of time, staff and resources to process cannabis retail licence applications, inspections, enforcement issues and talking to the province if there is an issue. Licence fees proposed for Medicine Hat are considered average compared to other cities. In Edmonton it is $2,500 in Calgary $191 and Grand Prairie $2,500. The currently “unpublished fees,” not set yet for other centres, include Airdrie $100 and Lethbridge $700, said Snyder. The option of using a lottery system to control the number of retail cannabis businesses was considered but is not recommended by the city to council. Council however, will still make the final decision. Taxis are currently the only business licences awarded through a lottery process held by the city, said Snyder. It is an expensive process for the city to handle that and may even require an extra member of staff. Allowing the market to decide seemed fairer. Development and infrastructure committee meeting chair Coun. Robert Dumanowski, along with Couns. Jamie McIntosh and Jim Turner, agreed the lottery was not the way to go. No retail cannabis business licences have been approved by the city yet. “We are waiting for council to set the rules,” said Snyder. The city is however, accepting development permit applications, and will be giving approvals with a condition saying they cannot open before Oct. 17 when it is federally legal to do so. However, no development permits have been issued yet. Some are expected to be presented at the next development and planning commission meeting on Aug. 22. “They are taking a risk on their own dollar but if you want to open on Oct. 17, a lot of the places have to do some improvements,” said Snyder. Other changes to the bylaw include prohibiting cannabis production, distribution and retail sales from a mobile business unit, in a residential unit or in premises on residential land. There will be no home delivery or delivery to another location for consumption, and no food truck-type cannabis retail operations if the bylaw is approved, said Snyder. Anyone whose federal or provincial approval is revoked or suspended will also automatically result in cancellation of the licence in Medicine Hat, the proposed bylaw change states. The city is recommending no change to the hours of operation beyond those established by the province because retail cannabis stores will not be in residential areas. The provincial hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. — the same as liquor stores. In July, council voted 6-1 to accept an overlay map for cannabis retail store locations mainly in dense commercial corridors or industrial parks. That gave prospective shop keepers the ability to update provincial licence applications showing proposed locations comply with local laws. 21
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