Port Moody council has put the brakes on any potential commercial marijuana production facilities and is expected to prohibit such businesses altogether.
The subject was back on the table after a committee of the whole discussion last July at which the previous council voted to prohibit medical pot facilities within its A-2 rural and recreational zone. The committee agreed to have staff prepare bylaw amendments to allow such production in its industrial zones (M1 and M3).
Much of council's discussion Tuesday focused on whether the city could legally prohibit marijuana production facilities given that they are a legitimate business under the federal government's medical pot regulations that came into effect last March.
"I understand the premise of this but my first question is can you actually discriminate against this type of use by not providing a zoning for it?" asked Coun. Meghan Lahti.
Planner Kevin Jones said the city's legal advice is that it can be a prohibited use. In his report to council, Jones also noted several Metro Vancouver cities have allowed the use in their agricultural zones - Maple Ridge, Richmond, Vancouver and New Westminster - while Coquitlam, Delta, North Vancouver District and New West allow it in specific industrial zones. White Rock and Surrey have created zones to accommodate the use but have not identified any corresponding pieces of land.
West Vancouver, the city of North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows and City of Langley have prohibited medical marijuana production.
Coun. Zoe Royer expressed support for the use of medical marijuana but questioned whether it was appropriate for the City of the Arts to allow pot production on a commercial scale.
Coun. Diana Dilworth said PoMo residents who have a medical need for weed can order it through the mail.
"These are very large, grey, square bunkers, they take up a significant amount of space and have a tremendous amount of security," Dilworth added, noting the possible industrial sites - Andrés Wines and Mill and Timber - are areas where the city would prefer to see other uses.
Councillors Rick Glumac and Robert Vagramov, however, offered their support for commercial medical marijuana production, noting the tough federal regulations governing noise and odour control.
Vagramov questioned whether anybody would want to establish such a business in PoMo, suggesting there would likely be cheaper industrial land elsewhere, adding that opposition to the proposed bylaws was coming from a philosophical stance against marijuana use in general.
"If you don't like it, don't use it," he said.
Council defeated a motion to allow commercial production in the C8 zone - the former landfill site - and passed a motion asking staff to prepare zoning bylaw text amendments that would prohibit commercial medical marijuana production and testing in Port Moody; Vagramov and Glumac voted against it.
