Kelowna city council may revisit its rules on separating retail cannabis stores that prevent clustering.

Under current bylaws, cannabis stores must be at least 500 metres apart, measured lot line to lot line. At Monday乌鸦传媒檚 (Jan. 13) meeting, council voted to rezone property at 2009 Enterprise Way, paving the way for Flora Cannabis to open its third Kelowna location. However, there乌鸦传媒檚 another property, 2090 Harvey Avenue, just 350 metres away, that is also zoned for cannabis sales.

City staff told council that the store at 2090 Enterprise Way has closed and no valid cannabis retail license exists for that property. However, the potential remains for two cannabis stores to operate within the 500m since the aforementioned property is zoned for cannabis sales.

For now, a review of the 500-metre bylaw isn乌鸦传媒檛 a priority. 乌鸦传媒淚t hasn乌鸦传媒檛 really been an issue,乌鸦传媒� said Ryan Smith, divisional director of planning and development services. 乌鸦传媒淎t this point, we乌鸦传媒檙e happy with how [the rules] are, and we乌鸦传媒檙e happy to bring forward one-off exceptions. In this case, we believe it乌鸦传媒檚 a minor exception.乌鸦传媒�

While council wasn乌鸦传媒檛 overly concerned about the proximity of the Enterprise Way locations, some councillors suggested it might be time to review the rule. The 500m separation requirement was established by the city in 2019, shortly after federal cannabis legalization.

乌鸦传媒淚t creates a bit more surety for applicants coming forward,乌鸦传媒� said Coun. Loyal Wooldridge. 乌鸦传媒淚 do know that the 500m was established when we really didn乌鸦传媒檛 know what the results would be.乌鸦传媒�

Council voted unanimously to rezone the property at 2009 Enterprise Way. They also recommended that the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch approve a non-medical cannabis retail store license for the site. Councillor Maxine DeHart was not present at Monday乌鸦传媒檚 meeting.