City to reclassify land use of Aurora greenhouse
By Medicine Hat News on July 18, 2024.
@MedicineHatNews The conversation of a greenhouse originally built to grow cannabis to instead grow vegetable starters and cut flowers proceeded through the municipal planning commission on Wednesday and on to council for final approval. Bevo Farms has been operating in the former Aurora Sun greenhouse in northwest Medicine Hat since the spring. The half completed facility was never used to grow marijuana, and was repurposed for use the Aurora subsidiary after a deal between to previously separate companies last year. Since the land was rezoned as a direct control district when the project was announced in 2018, council must approve all development permits on the site, including change of use applications. It is expected to be dealt with at the next regular meeting of council on August 19. Separate to the application, Bevo Farms was denied a request to council that the million-square-foot facility be subject to an early change of use for tax assessment purposes. Cannabis production in considered a non-residential use (essentially commercial) and structure value is assessed much higher than farm buildings, which include traditional vegetable greenhouses. That classification will likely be in place in the 2025 tax year, city finance officials have said. 9-8
