A number of provincial and municipal governments have concerns about the future legalization of marijuana - the Trudeau Liberals could table legislation the week of April 10th.
The City of Kelowna is also anticipating possible changes in the laws, and Kelowna Planning Manager Ryan Smith says right now staff is looking ahead to a not-too-distant future when marijuana dispenseries could become common place.
He says they anticipate Ottawa and the province will eventually give the city control over where retail pot shops can be located - but in a report staff is currently preparing, they're clarifying a bylaw that says until the word comes down - setting up a marijuana dispensery is illegal.
"Locating them now before the municipality has even had the chance to put land use regulations in place is really, really risky and in some instances it could be money thrown away," he says.
Smith says once they get a ruling on where a pot shop can be located, the next step is "recommending council adopt a system similar to how the city regulates liqour stores - where they require a site specific minor rezoning application, and how we would decide where those go, are based on some proximity regulations the city has in place for parks and schools."
When it comes to individuals growing marijuana, there's talk of a cap of four pot plants per household - and one Vancouver councillor has already said the logistics of enforcing that will be hugley challenging.