Cannabis may become legal in Canada Oct. 17, but that doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean it will be available for sale in Kelowna as soon as that.

Thatsa国际传媒檚 because the city plans to set a period of Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 for applications to open stores selling cannabis, with a nine-member committeesa国际传媒攎ade up of select city and law enforcement officialssa国际传媒攖hen evaluating the hundreds of applications the city is expecting to receive.

Under rules endorsed by council Monday, the plan is to have the committee weed out the applications that best meet the citysa国际传媒檚 requirements and objectives and then forward only those to council for consideration.

Areas the committee will look at will include the business plan, security, location, store layout and compliance with city setback requirements.

Where two or more applications for the the same location come up equal, the city plans to hold a lottery to determine the winner.

The city is taking the unusual steps towards to dealing with the applications because it says having the planning department deal with so many applications at one time in the traditional manner could sa国际传媒渃ripplesa国际传媒� it.

sa国际传媒淲e expect not dozens of applications but potentially hundreds,sa国际传媒� said community planning manager Ryan Smith.

On Monday he told council the city regularly deals with about 800 development applications per year. If it had to suddenly deal with 150 more at one time, it would pose a huge problem for the department.

He said there have already been hundreds of inquiries made to the city about opening stores selling legal cannabis in Kelowna.

Related: Kelowna looking to keep pot shops off two downtown streets

On Monday, council endorsed a number of rules that will govern the location of cannabis retail outlets in the city including:

sa国际传媒� Locating them at least 500 metres from each other

sa国际传媒� Locating them at least 500 metres from middle schools and high schools

sa国际传媒� Locating them at least 150 metres from select parks

sa国际传媒� Banning them from opening on stretches of Leon and Lawrence Avenues downtown between Abbott and Bertram Streets

sa国际传媒� Locating them only in commercial zones.

The rules would apply equally to private and government-operated stores.

The proposed rules will now go to a public hearing to give the community an opportunity to tell council what they think about them.

Smith said there are about 900 locations in the city where pot shops could open, but that number will decrease as ones are approved and separation rules start to kick in.

The issue of potential lotteries to determine who is allowed to open a store in a specified location caught councilsa国际传媒檚 attention, with several councillors expressing concern and saying any such move would have to be very transparent.

sa国际传媒淚f it does go down to a draw, I think it has to be very, very public and make sure it is completely transparent,sa国际传媒� said Coun. Luke Stack.

sa国际传媒淲hat Isa国际传媒檝e heard is there is a lot of interest in applications, and we have to make sure we are very transparent with the applicants so people are treated fairly.sa国际传媒�

Related: Pot shops not welcome in Kelowna just yet

Two other councillors, Brad Sieben and Tracy Gray expressed concern with the matrix the city will use to determine who gets to open a store.

Sieben said he was concerned with the city being the sa国际传媒渏udge verses the evaluatorsa国际传媒� and Gray said while she could support sending the rules to a public hearing, she was uneasy about having the city decide which business was better than another.

But Mayor Colin Basran defended the citysa国际传媒檚 plan, noting some other cities are not allowing pot shops at all.

sa国际传媒淚 appreciate the approach wesa国际传媒檙e taking,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 think it strikes a good balance.sa国际传媒�

He added the large amount of work the city is doing to prepare for the arrival of the legal cannabis in Kelowna shows the support the city is giving to the new industry.

Earlier in his presentation, Smith said the fees applicants will be charged will reflect the amount of time and money the city has spent preparing for the arrival of legal cannabis sales in Kelowna.

Basran said the issue of profit sharing to cover the citysa国际传媒檚 costs is one that has yet to be determined by the province.

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