The General
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At a hearing Monday night to discuss amendments to a bylaw that will allow medical marijuana facilities to be built in the Alberni Valley's rural areas, just one member of the public attended to voice concerns. The bylaw will now go back to Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District's board of directors for third reading at their public meeting on June 25, according to ACRD manager of planning and development Mike Irg. "It will go for third reading at the next board meeting, and if it proceeds it has to come back to one more meeting after that [for a final decision]," Irg said.
The amendment to the proposed bylaw allows medical marijuana facilities to be built in regional district's forest reserve zone (A4), with potential facilities sitting 100 feet away from property lines. Irg called the A4 zone "our more remote properties." So far, there are four applications for medical grow-op licenses awaiting Health Canada's approval to be built in the Alberni Valley, under the federal guidelines that came into effect April 1. The regional district initially proposed allowing these indoor operations on lots measuring at least 1.62 hectares (four acres) in size, with the growing building located at least 30.48 metres (100 feet) away from property lines.
But during a public hearing on March 27, several residents spoke against permitting the medicinal grow-ops, citing odour, fire hazards and potential criminal activity as areas of concern. This led to changing the proposed minimum size of grow-op lots to 2.42 hectares, or six acres. In late April, Nanaimo's first medical grow-op shipped out its first package from its 60,000-square foot, $ 10-million facility that employs 60 people. The Nanaimo facility is guarded with security guards and video surveillance, and sits behind a chain link fence.
"Think of the building as a bank inside a prison, filled up with toasters we're trying to cool," said Brenden Kennedy, CEO of the Nanaimo company Tilray. The "toasters" are 1,000-watt grow lights. In Tilray's growing rooms, the temperature is warm but not uncomfortable. Fans vent hot air outside and forced cool air is drawn in to replace it, taking away the heat from thousands of lights so powerful employees must wear sunglasses to shield their eyes. Workers don disposable booties, masks, hair nets and gloves, and the entire building is disinfected daily to control contaminants.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Avtimes.net
Author: Scott Mckenzie
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Medical pot bylaw set for its third reading - Local - Alberni Valley Times
The amendment to the proposed bylaw allows medical marijuana facilities to be built in regional district's forest reserve zone (A4), with potential facilities sitting 100 feet away from property lines. Irg called the A4 zone "our more remote properties." So far, there are four applications for medical grow-op licenses awaiting Health Canada's approval to be built in the Alberni Valley, under the federal guidelines that came into effect April 1. The regional district initially proposed allowing these indoor operations on lots measuring at least 1.62 hectares (four acres) in size, with the growing building located at least 30.48 metres (100 feet) away from property lines.
But during a public hearing on March 27, several residents spoke against permitting the medicinal grow-ops, citing odour, fire hazards and potential criminal activity as areas of concern. This led to changing the proposed minimum size of grow-op lots to 2.42 hectares, or six acres. In late April, Nanaimo's first medical grow-op shipped out its first package from its 60,000-square foot, $ 10-million facility that employs 60 people. The Nanaimo facility is guarded with security guards and video surveillance, and sits behind a chain link fence.
"Think of the building as a bank inside a prison, filled up with toasters we're trying to cool," said Brenden Kennedy, CEO of the Nanaimo company Tilray. The "toasters" are 1,000-watt grow lights. In Tilray's growing rooms, the temperature is warm but not uncomfortable. Fans vent hot air outside and forced cool air is drawn in to replace it, taking away the heat from thousands of lights so powerful employees must wear sunglasses to shield their eyes. Workers don disposable booties, masks, hair nets and gloves, and the entire building is disinfected daily to control contaminants.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Avtimes.net
Author: Scott Mckenzie
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Medical pot bylaw set for its third reading - Local - Alberni Valley Times
