A pot shop is proposed 150 m from Minnekhada Middle School — 100 m less than what’s required in the City of Port Coquitlam’s current cannabis policy.
Tomorrow, March 12, the city’s committee of council will consider the rezoning bid by BOSS Cannabis, which opened a store last year at 1760 Kingsway Ave.
According to a report from Bruce Irvine, PoCo’s director of development services, BOSS’ second retail store, if greenlighted by council, would be located in the former Lordco Auto Parts space at Meridian Station at 101-3377 Coast Meridian Rd.
The strip mall’s tenants include Pizza 123, Burke Mountain Optometry, Burke Mountain Dental and a Kumon educational centre. Also nearby are the Tri-City Canaan Church, Hyde Creek Recreation Centre and École des Pionniers-de-Maillardville school.
Under the city’s Cannabis Establishment Policy, adopted in January 2019, cannabis stores must be in a designated commercial district and:
- be at least a kilometre away from other cannabis outlets
- have at least a 250 m separation from schools, playgrounds, community centres and sports fields
- steer clear from sensitive uses like daycares, gathering spaces and shelters
- have no opposition from immediate neighbours
- be able to provide a community benefit
Still, Irvine wrote the proposed pot site is about 150 m “as the crow flies” from Minnekhada Middle on Laurier Avenue, 250 m from the Pionniers’ sports field and close to several childcare facilities, including one in the church and two across Coast Meridian Road near Prairie Avenue.
Irvine said the applicants have notified nearby business owners that they plan to acquire a provincial licence, of which municipal consultation is required.
They also plan to employ 15 staff and be open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
“Planning staff have received three written and one verbal comment noting concern for the proposed cannabis use, specifically the proximity to childcare uses, schools and the church,” Irvine said in his report.
To date, Port Coquitlam has OK’d five cannabis retail shops: One for BOSS, two for burb and two for provincial government outlets. City staff haven’t had any complaints about their operations, Irvine wrote.
Meanwhile, he’s recommending the committee also update its cannabis policy to adjust the locational guidelines, if the BOSS bid proceeds, noting the “guidelines are currently more prescriptive given they were developed at a time when the impacts of cannabis use in a community were unknown, provincial legislation pertaining to cannabis sales was new and untested, and significant concern about the introduction of the use into the community was expressed by the community.”
The committee of council meeting starts at 4 p.m., March 12 at Port Coquitlam City Hall.
