A medical marijuana production facility could be in the works for Wallaceburg.
A zoning by-law amendment is being presented to Chatham-Kent council coming up at their meeting scheduled for Monday.
Planning staff is recommending the amendment for the land located at 6850 Base Line, in Wallaceburg, to include a marijuana for medical purposes production facility as an additional permitted use.
“The owner has an interested third party that would like to lease vacant space in the building to establish a marijuana for medical purposes production facility licensed under the new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) implemented as of July of 2013 by Health Canada,” a report by Storey Samways Planning Ltd. states.
The applicant for this amendment is Tatro Properties Ltd.
The reports says the property is a 23.8 acre industrial lot which contains an existing 178,685 sq. ft. main industrial building and two smaller outbuildings. The main building is currently used for storage and warehousing.
“The new regulations aim to treat marihuana as much as possible like any other narcotic used for medical purposes by creating conditions for a new, commercial industry that is responsible for its production and distribution,” Storey Samways Planning Ltd. states in the report. “The regulations will provide access to quality-controlled marihuana for medical purposes, produced under secure and sanitary conditions, to those Canadians who need it, while strengthening the safety of Canadian communities. In addition, the new regulations will also provide more choices of marihuana strains and commercial suppliers.”
If the proposed zoning amendment is approved the licensing process, which the applicant is currently engaged in, will proceed to the next step.
“The zoning amendment will only permit the proposed facility once a license has been issued by Health Canada,” the report states.
“No unfavourable comments” have been received from any of the agencies canvassed about the application, the report states.
Council will vote on the report on Monday.
