Kelowna city council set aside their 500 meter separation rule to send a pot shop application to a public hearing.
Grasshopper Cannabis would be located at 1636 Pandosy St., just 263 meters from the location of a cannabis store that has already receive approval from council.
Councillor Luke Stack said downtown is a very broad area and wants the public’s input on the matter.
“Three stores in all of our downtown, I don't feel that's too much. Does it set a precedent? I don't believe it does. If we saw a whole bunch more applications we would have to look at them individually but overall I’m reasonably comfortable that three stores are not going to create in issue in the entire downtown sector.”
Council indicated their main concern is clustering of cannabis stores but recognized the density and demand in the city's centre.
When the 500 meter buffer was implemented, Councillor Gail Given said it didn't consider density or tourism traffic downtown.
“I think there are some unique characteristics of the downtown core that make this somewhat viable without creating a clustering effect.”
She noted the location of the first application at 547 Bernard Ave. really determined how many pot shops would be allowed in the downtown area, when complying with the 500 meter buffer.
If they were to stick to the rule, Councillor Charlie Hodge said the establishment on Bernard Ave. would essentially have a monopoly.
He said one facility is not enough to serve the current population of the downtown core.
“We encourage the locals not to get in their car and drive and encourage them to walk or remain in the downtown core and yet we’ve limited the one place they can go to get legal marijuana. I think there’s more than enough demand in the downtown to warrant more than one store,” said Hodge.
Councillors Stack, Given, Hodge, Loyal Wooldridge and Brad Sieben favoured the applicant, while Mayor Colin Basran and Councillors Maxine DeHart and Ryan Donn were opposed.
The proposal will head to public hearing at a later date.