Cannabis Regulations

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Consultation has concluded

On May 28, 2020, the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand passed Interim Control By-Law 56-2020 which prohibited the establishment of cannabis production and processing facilities for a period of 12 months in order for staff to undertake a review of cannabis legislation and develop planning policies and regulations.

In order to ensure that appropriate regulations are in place to regulate both commercial cannabis production facilities and medical cannabis production for personal use, changes should be made to the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand Zoning By-law 19-2019. These changes will differentiate between the two types of cannabis production and clearly indicate where each use is permitted.

In order to ensure that policies and regulations are in place before the expiry of the Interim Control By-law, it is recommended that at the May 27, 2021 Municipal Planning Meeting, the Interim Control By-law 56/2020 be extended for an additional year. At that same meeting a public meeting for the proposed Zoning By-law amendment will be held giving the public opportunity to provide input into the proposed amendment. Given the nature of the amendment and the likelihood of public comments, it is recommended that adoption of the Zoning By-law Amendment not be considered at the May meeting in order to ensure that public comments are thoroughly reviewed prior to the approval of the Zoning By-law Amendment.


On May 28, 2020, the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand passed Interim Control By-Law 56-2020 which prohibited the establishment of cannabis production and processing facilities for a period of 12 months in order for staff to undertake a review of cannabis legislation and develop planning policies and regulations.

In order to ensure that appropriate regulations are in place to regulate both commercial cannabis production facilities and medical cannabis production for personal use, changes should be made to the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand Zoning By-law 19-2019. These changes will differentiate between the two types of cannabis production and clearly indicate where each use is permitted.

In order to ensure that policies and regulations are in place before the expiry of the Interim Control By-law, it is recommended that at the May 27, 2021 Municipal Planning Meeting, the Interim Control By-law 56/2020 be extended for an additional year. At that same meeting a public meeting for the proposed Zoning By-law amendment will be held giving the public opportunity to provide input into the proposed amendment. Given the nature of the amendment and the likelihood of public comments, it is recommended that adoption of the Zoning By-law Amendment not be considered at the May meeting in order to ensure that public comments are thoroughly reviewed prior to the approval of the Zoning By-law Amendment.


Consultation has concluded

Please post your questions and/or comments on the zoning by-law amendment for staff to review and/or answer. Your questions and/or comments may become part of a report to Council. 

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    To: Planner Jennifer Current From: Gritt Koehl Hi Jennifer, Thank you for all the research and well-thought out suggestions to clarify and regulate CPFs and MRCs in the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand. I believe what you are proposing is reasonable. I have a couple of minor suggestions as follows: Page 3 – third paragraph Suggestion: Insert the word “annually” after the “number of plants required “annually” to supply 3.0 grams of dried cannabis per day is: Page 6 – first paragraph Suggestion: Insert the word “annually” after “with that registration certificate limiting the growing of plants “annually” to: (i) a maximum of 15 indoor plants, or (ii) a maximum of 6 outdoor plants, or (iii) a maximum of 11 indoor plants and 3 outdoor plants in combination. Page 6 – second paragraph It is legal that 4 cannabis plants can be grown “annually” per Residence (not per person) indoors OR outdoors. Not much to regulate there. Growing more than 4 plants indoors and/or outdoors under a Medical Registration Certificate will have odour issues. While it is hard to mitigate odours with outdoor growing, perhaps indoor growing of cannabis plants under a Medical Registration Certificate could require that ventilation equipment to reduce odours be installed. Suggestion: to regulate that a Household can only grow cannabis for ONE Medical Registration Certificate. If more than one person in a household has a Medical Registration Certificate, then that MRC must be grown by a third party grower. Third party growers can grow for up to 4 MRCs, which in effect is a Cannabis Production Facility, and this should only be permitted in the General Industrial Zone. Thank you for your consideration of these suggestions. Gritt Koehl May 11, 2021

    Gritt Koehl asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to review the Cannabis Report and provide us with you thoughts regarding the proposed regulations.  In reviewing the Federal regulations pertaining to the production of medical cannabis for personal use, I have not found that there is an annual limit on the number of plants which can be produced.  My understanding is that the limit is based on the number of plants being grown at one time.  In Canada it is reasonable to assume that our growing season would only permit one outdoor crop per year however there does not appear to be a restriction on growing for example 6 plants outdoors during the summer and then during the winter transitioning to 15 indoor plants.  I have submitted an inquiry to Health Canada requesting clarification on this matter.

     

    The requirement for ventilation equipment for indoor production of cannabis may be challenging.  Because the production of medical cannabis for person use is legal, municipalities cannot impose regulations intended to make it extremely difficult or impossible for individuals to meet.  We will look into this suggestion.

     

    The number of registration certificates permitted per property is something that Council will be looking at and your suggesting that only one registration certificate be permitted per property will be presented to Council.  My initial thoughts are that a maximum of one registration certificate be permitted per residential property with a maximum of 6 outdoor and 15 indoor plants and that on properties zoned Rural and Agricultural and comply with the minimum lot area for those respective zones that a total of four registration certificates be permitted with a maximum of 24 outdoor plants and 60 indoor plants. 

     

    You comments will be incorporated into the report going to Council next week. 

     

    Jennifer Current

    Senior Planner

    Township of Alnwick/Haldimand

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    I wanted to note that there is no size limit for Cannabis Nurseries. Your staff report from April 2021 references a surface area of 50 m2, but this is only the limit for flowering plants for the purpose of producing seeds. Nurseries themselves have no size limit when it comes to non-flowering production.

    David Brown asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for taking the time to review the report and submit a question regarding cannabis production.  Cannabis Nurseries are regulated by the Federal Government and require a specific license.  The regulations passed under the Cannabis Act contain the specific regulations for licensed cannabis nurseries including the 50 m2 area.  The proposed cannabis zone regulations permit Cannabis Production Facilities, which includes Cannabis Nurseries, in the General Industrial Zone and will be subject to site plan control.  Site plan control will be used to delineate building area, parking and loading zones, lighting, stormwater management, fencing etc. 

    Cannabis buds or flowers are the part of the plant that is typically harvested for use and seed, so while there is no specific size limitation on non-flowering production, the production of flowering plants is the intended purpose of producers.  If a commercial cannabis production facility is proposed in conjunction with a cannabis nursery, it will also require a specific federal license and subject to the limitations of that license.