March 2022 Update At the Regular Council meeting on December 15, 2021, Council approved two Temporary Use Permits to allow a non-medical cannabis retail business for a period of three years to the following applicants: Ambleside Commercial Area
Horseshoe Bay Commercial Area
Council denied the remaining eight applications.
October 2021 Update
The District of West Vancouver received a total of 10 Temporary Use Permit applications for cannabis retail. Visit our Current Developments webpage for information on the applications.
As per Council direction at the Regular Council meeting on May 31, 2021, staff brought forward all 10 current cannabis retail applications that were received by June 30, 2021, in a batch for Council to review.
Staff recommended that Council receive the report containing the 10 Temporary Use Permit applications for cannabis retail for information at the Council meeting on October 18, 2021. At the meeting Council passed the following motion that:
1) the following proposed Temporary Use Permit (TUP) applications:
to allow for a cannabis retail business, as described in the report dated September 28, 2021, be considered at the December 15, 2021 Council Meeting, and that notice be given of consideration of the proposed Temporary Use Permits;
2) the minimum notification area for the proposed Temporary Use Permits in the Ambleside and Horseshoe Bay shopping areas required under Development Procedures Bylaw No. 4940, 2017, be enlarged to allow for a combined notice as shown in Appendix A; and
3) staff develop a checklist of information items and instructions to assist applicants to prepare their presentations and supporting materials.
As part of the consideration process, neighbours within 50 metres of each of the proposed TUP(s) received written notice about the application and had the opportunity to provide comments to Mayor and Council on the proposal. The deadline to submit written comments was December 15, 2021.
Background
Since October of 2018, non-medical cannabis has been legal in Canada. Retail stores have opened across the Lower Mainland, but the District of West Vancouver has taken a cautious approach and has not yet permitted retail cannabis stores to open in the municipality.
The District waited and reviewed what happened in other municipalities before developing draft criteria to guide the review and approval of cannabis retail proposals in West Vancouver.
We asked the community for input on this draft criteria to guide how cannabis retailers are approved in West Vancouver. The survey was open for comments until Wednesday, April 21, at 4 p.m.
What is an interim policy?
Developing the policy as "interim" indicates that the District does not intend for the policy to be final at this stage. Calling a policy "interim" indicates the expectation that there will be future review and consideration of updates to the policy. Staff are proposing to apply the policy on an interim basis (for a proposed period of three years) so that they can gain information and actual experience, then report back to Council with further evaluation and recommendations.
The interim policy now under development includes criteria for identifying acceptable sites for retail cannabis applications, which are legal in Canada.
Proposed criteria
The following maps of commercial areas in West Vancouver indicate sites that would be permitted, or not permitted, using the proposed criteria.
Thank you for your feedback
Staff presented the Interim Non-medical Cannabis Policy to Council on Monday, May 31, 2021.
The survey was open for comments until Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 4 p.m.
March 2022 Update
At the Regular Council meeting on December 15, 2021, Council approved two Temporary Use Permits to allow a non-medical cannabis retail business for a period of three years to the following applicants:
Ambleside Commercial Area
Horseshoe Bay Commercial Area
Council denied the remaining eight applications.
October 2021 Update
The District of West Vancouver received a total of 10 Temporary Use Permit applications for cannabis retail. Visit our Current Developments webpage for information on the applications.
As per Council direction at the Regular Council meeting on May 31, 2021, staff brought forward all 10 current cannabis retail applications that were received by June 30, 2021, in a batch for Council to review.
Staff recommended that Council receive the report containing the 10 Temporary Use Permit applications for cannabis retail for information at the Council meeting on October 18, 2021. At the meeting Council passed the following motion that:
1) the following proposed Temporary Use Permit (TUP) applications:
to allow for a cannabis retail business, as described in the report dated September 28, 2021, be considered at the December 15, 2021 Council Meeting, and that notice be given of consideration of the proposed Temporary Use Permits;
2) the minimum notification area for the proposed Temporary Use Permits in the Ambleside and Horseshoe Bay shopping areas required under Development Procedures Bylaw No. 4940, 2017, be enlarged to allow for a combined notice as shown in Appendix A; and
3) staff develop a checklist of information items and instructions to assist applicants to prepare their presentations and supporting materials.
As part of the consideration process, neighbours within 50 metres of each of the proposed TUP(s) received written notice about the application and had the opportunity to provide comments to Mayor and Council on the proposal. The deadline to submit written comments was December 15, 2021.
Background
Since October of 2018, non-medical cannabis has been legal in Canada. Retail stores have opened across the Lower Mainland, but the District of West Vancouver has taken a cautious approach and has not yet permitted retail cannabis stores to open in the municipality.
The District waited and reviewed what happened in other municipalities before developing draft criteria to guide the review and approval of cannabis retail proposals in West Vancouver.
We asked the community for input on this draft criteria to guide how cannabis retailers are approved in West Vancouver. The survey was open for comments until Wednesday, April 21, at 4 p.m.
What is an interim policy?
Developing the policy as "interim" indicates that the District does not intend for the policy to be final at this stage. Calling a policy "interim" indicates the expectation that there will be future review and consideration of updates to the policy. Staff are proposing to apply the policy on an interim basis (for a proposed period of three years) so that they can gain information and actual experience, then report back to Council with further evaluation and recommendations.
The interim policy now under development includes criteria for identifying acceptable sites for retail cannabis applications, which are legal in Canada.
Proposed criteria
The following maps of commercial areas in West Vancouver indicate sites that would be permitted, or not permitted, using the proposed criteria.
Thank you for your feedback
Staff presented the Interim Non-medical Cannabis Policy to Council on Monday, May 31, 2021.
The survey was open for comments until Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 4 p.m.
