By James Peters

Retail cannabis quiet in TNRD, but plenty of interest in legal production

Feb 22, 2019 | 3:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — While the City of Kamloops is experiencing a boom in retail cannabis applications, the same cannot be said about the surrounding rural area.

Planning Services Manager Alex Krause says the Thompson-Nicola Regional District has only received one application for a retail store, planned for McLure.

Krause says the TNRD Board of Directors would have to approve the rezoning for the store, and it would still require provincial approval.

“They’ll likely look at it on a site-specific basis within a commercial zone,” said Krause. “So let’s say somebody has an existing retail commercial zone, then if they apply they can get a site-specific amendment to allow that specific retail cannabis use within their existing zone.”

“We’re not anticipating that many applications on the retail side in the TNRD, mainly because we don’t have that much commercial land use in the rural areas. It’s really meant that new commercial development be directed into our member municipalities.”

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But micro-production of cannabis is another story for the regional district.

Krause says since 2012, the TNRD has received expressions of interest for 17 micro-grow operations.

Sixteen of those are proposed for medical marijuana, with the only other proposal designated for recreational cannabis.

The legal grow ops would need to be approved by Health Canada, and Krause says that has not happened for any of them yet.

Under Health Canada regulations, micro-production operations can be set up on maximum 200-square metre parcels.

Krause says when all is said and done, the TNRD may end up with far fewer actual micro-grows in operation.

“I’m not sure if the number of phone calls we receive will actually translate into the number of people who actually do it, because they have to go through Health Canada. They have to meet a whole bunch of licensing requirements, air filtration requirements, security clearances,” said Krause. “So there’s a lot of things they have to go through.”

In addition to the 17 micro-grows planned, the TNRD has also received a building permit application for a cannabis production facility.

Krause says the level of interest isn’t necessarily a surprise.

“I think people are sort of hearing about this and think, ‘Micro-scale is a great idea; maybe we can do that on our rural property.’ But when they find out the requirements from Health Canada, I think that’s sort of what’s weeding it down.”