COURTENAY, B.C. – The City of Courtenay is getting set for the future legalization of cannabis.
An open house will take place on Wednesday, July 4th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre’s Evergreen Lounge.
Residents will have the chance to review materials, speak with city staff and provide input on cannabis regulations.
“As a first step in the regulatory process we’ve already been working on zoning amendments to define and restrict storefront cannabis retailers with a public hearing scheduled for July 3. This open house event on July 4 is the next step and it will help us guide policies and regulations related to recreational cannabis specific to our community,” said Ian Buck, the City of Courtenay’s Director of Development Services, in a city-issued release.
“We want to hear if the community has a preference for distances between individual retail outlets or between retail outlets and uses such as schools, daycares or parks,” he added. “Are there preferred hours of operation? Should we restrict smoking in all public places? These are just some of the ways we can regulate cannabis locally and we look forward to hearing from everyone.”
The federal government has announced that cannabis will be legalized starting October 17th, 2018.
The proposed regulations are expected to be finalized this summer in time for fall legalization. For more information, visit www.courtenay.ca/cannabis.
