A proposal for a cannabis shop in the development being built next to the Canadian Tire in North Saanich now needs to get through only one more step before approval.
By a vote of four to two, council approved a motion to hold a public hearing on allowing the store in Sandown Park.
The council also voted to give the rezoning application a first and second reading, meaning that once the public has a chance to attend and weigh in at the hearing, the council will be able to immediately vote on whether to allow the store to go in.
“This remains entirely at your discretion,” senior planner Trevor Parkes told council during the meeting on Monday (Feb.12) evening.
No date for the hearing is scheduled yet, and before it happens notifications must be mailed out to nearby businesses and ads placed in the Peninsula News Review.
For the store to open at the expanding Sandown Park shopping centre, a zoning change is needed. North Saanich council created a bylaw just before legalization in 2018, prohibiting retail sale of cannabis in the district, but the owners of the shop argue that public expectations have changed since cannabis was legalized.
The issue was last raised by council during the Jan. 29 meeting, when a representative of the property developer and the owners of the proposed shop advocated for the zoning change.
North Saanich staff had recommended against allowing the store as it would run counter to the intentions of the 2018 bylaw, as well as the fact there are several other options to buy cannabis within a short drive of Sandown.
Councillors decided rather than to say no, they would direct the developer to hold public consultation to find out if there is broad public support or opposition.
So the property developer held a public forum, while the North Saanich Residents Association conducted an online poll. Only seven people showed up to the meeting, and the online poll was slightly in favour of allowing the store.
This time around, district staff recommended supporting the resolution to move the project forward.
READ MORE: Proposal for North Saanich cannabis store to go back to council