The City of Victoria has signalled it is likely to reconsider its stance on how it rezones for cannabis retail locations after breaking with a staff recommendation Thursday and moving forward a proposal for a new cannabis store in Vic West.
A majority of council voted to prepare a zoning bylaw amendment that would authorize a retail cannabis store at 182 Wilson St. within the Westside Village shopping centre.
City staff had recommended against the Truffles Group proposal as it rubbed against the city’s guidelines that cannabis retailers not be within 400 metres of an existing cannabis retailer.
“The intent of the cannabis policy is to make sure we don’t have a concentration of storefronts on the same block or in the same area,” said Coun. Matt Dell, who pointed out while the proposed new store would be within 200 metres of an existing retailer, it was not within the same storefront area.
Dell said the city’s policy is due for an update as it was passed in 2017, before the legalization of cannabis. He also noted the city’s own original policy was for a 200-metre buffer between stores, but the previous council extended that to 400 metres because it anticipated there would be a lot of applications.
City staff told council Thursday there is now only a trickle of applications to open cannabis retail stores.
Coun. Dave Thompson said there was support from other businesses in the shopping centre and and they want the storefronts occupied.
“And because this is turning into a walkable area of Victoria, I think it’s important for us to pay attention to that,” he said, noting it’s also an area that is seeing residential growth and there will be a need for more services.
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