Council-approved pot shops that have never opened are creating roadblocks for new cannabis stores in downtown Kelowna.

Even though there are currently no operating pot shops in Kelownasa国际传媒檚 downtown core, city staff recommended councillors not support applications for two new Bernard Avenue stores that hit their desks on Monday (June 28) due to their proximity to local parks and other approved locations.

But those shops have yet to open, despite getting the citysa国际传媒檚 go-ahead two years ago.

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Hemp City owner Lee Schurian is looking to begin selling weed out of his already-operational head shop and Krista Lusted is hoping to open a new shop, the Green Pineapple, just down the street in what is currently a Telus location.

Council gave the green light to both rezoning applications, sending them to public hearings.

sa国际传媒淗aving none open downtown is a deficit we didnsa国际传媒檛 plan on,sa国际传媒� said Coun. Ryan Donn, adding hesa国际传媒檚 curious to hear the publicsa国际传媒檚 input.

While the other two approved locations arensa国际传媒檛 open and storefronts have changed hands since their approval, they still might end up opening at some point.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 not convinced that the market will entirely support all of them, but thatsa国际传媒檚 not for me to decide,sa国际传媒� said Mayor Colin Basran.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 open to a free market; let the best store win.sa国际传媒�

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com

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