Kamloops Council has voted 7 to 2, and rejected a by law change to permit existing illegal cannabis dispensaries until the federal law gets into place later this year.
Development Services Director Marvin Kwiatkowski says, proceeding creates problems.
“There is no guarantee that the scheme would satisfy the city’s legal objectives, and enforcement of the covenants is also time consuming and costly. Enforcement would potentially still be required after legalization if these TUPs are in place.”
Councillor Pat Wallace voted with the majority, while Denis Walsh said no.
“For our taxpayers to be put at risk if there is a fire or accident or anything in a place first of all that doesn’t have an operating permit.”
Walsh, “A lot of the stuff we are going to do with the TUPs, the process is very similar to designing our new bylaw for cannabis dispensaries, so a lot of that would work hand in hand together.”
Due to the delay in the senate vote, pot wont be legalized until later summer or early fall.