The municipality of Grey Highlands has approved the site plan application for a micro cannabis processing operation in downtown Markdale, however, questions surrounding the municipality’s need for a cannabis policy still remain.
“Our zoning bylaws should have been reviewed a decade ago and definitely should have had a cannabis component added when cannabis became legal,” said Grey Highlands councillor Paul Allen. “The best decisions are the result of thoughtful and timely planning.”
A site plan application for Matchbox Organics, a micro cannabis cultivation and processing facility proposed for 31 Walker Street in downtown Markdale, was up for discussion once again at a virtual council meeting held on Wednesday.
The site plan application was presented at a committee of the whole meeting held earlier in May, as well as at a public meeting held in March.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Grey Highlands council pressed forward with the application, voting 5-2 in favour of allowing the micro-cannabis cultivation facility as an approved use in the light-industrial zone category of the municipal zoning bylaw.
This is not the final approval for the facility, which is still in the application phase.
“The library board is disappointed with this decision,” said Kevin Land, chair of the Grey Highlands Library Board during the open forum session of the virtual council meeting. “We feel that protecting a community asset like the Walter Harris Library and the amenities in King Edward Park, far outweigh the short-term economic benefits of permitting a micro cultivation and processing plant.”
In an effort to ratify various community concerns about the proposed facility, Grey Highlands council also carried two subsequent motions that will see control measures added to the site plan agreement, which are to include details of the ventilation and air purification system and how it meets government standards; the plant operating procedures including maintenance, monitoring, measurement, record-keeping, reporting, and complaint response protocol.
Council has also requested that the facility’s odour control system must be peer-reviewed by both a mechanical and civil engineer.
As with previous discussion surrounding this site application, council’s conversation once again swayed towards the municipality’s need for a cannabis policy.
“We have an antiquated zoning bylaw that does not define the location of cannabis facilities," said Councillor Allen.
The Grey Highlands zoning bylaw was adopted by council in October of 2005. In Canada, medical-use cannabis was deemed legal in 2001 and recreational-use was legalized in October 2018.
The site plan application for Matchbox Organics remains with the Grey Highlands planning department, where planners will address council's request for the additional site controls. The revised site plan agreement will come before council once the additions have been made.
