A provincial pot shop proposed just 110 metres away from another cannabis store was turned down by Kelowna city council, after city staff recommended the application be denied.

Council voted 5-4 to nix the shop proposed at the Willow Park mall in Rutland, with councillors Gail Given, Loyal Wooldridge, Charlie Hodge and Mayor Colin Basran in favour of the government-run BC Cannabis Store.

Staff made their recommendation based on the citysa国际传媒檚 policy of having a 500-metre buffer between stores that sell legal cannabis but that policy has proven difficult for some on city council, whosa国际传媒檇 rather take it on a case-by-case basis.

Last time a proposal of this sort came to council, things went the other way.

A shop on Bernard Avenue was approved despite being within the allowable limit of another shop in October 2019.

This time, some switched sides on the issue.

Councillors Luke Stack and Brad Sieben, while voting in favour of the shop on Bernard in October, voted against the Hollywood Road proposal. Basran also switched sides, from non-support last time, to support the more recent proposal, saying context is key.

sa国际传媒淚 didnsa国际传媒檛 want to see our downtown street grid with a cannabis store on every block,sa国际传媒� he said of the approved Bernard shop. sa国际传媒淲hat I find different in this application is wesa国际传媒檙e dealing with two strip malls separated by some distance and a highway.

sa国际传媒淚n this particular contextual setting, I believe that having a store across the highway is not a big deal.sa国际传媒�

Council also expressed that it would like to have a provincially-run BC Cannabis store in town.

sa国际传媒淎 major town centre like Rutland deserves to have a government store,sa国际传媒� said coun. Gail Given.

Of the 20 approved shops in Kelowna, only two have received a licence to sell from the government.

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michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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