Two London city councillors are asking staff to make sure the city is ready when marijuana becomes legal in Canada.
Councillors Jared Zaifman and Jesse Helmer have penned a letter that will be discussed at Monday's meeting of the Planning and Environment Committee.
"A major question to be explored is whether locations authorized to sell cannabis will be considered under one of our existing zoning definitions or will require a new definition," the letter says. "Currently, there are no references to the sale of cannabis in our Z-1 zoning bylaw. As we know, the planning services work plan is quite significant as it stands, and rushing to create a good policy framework once legalization is in effect will likely result in significant issues locally. Zoning amendments will take 4-6 months to research, consult the public on and consider at committee and council. We believe it is prudent to give our planning staff sufficient time to review and report back on this matter well in advance of July 1, 2018."
The letter asks staff to look at how zoning for marijuana sales are handled in jurisdictions where pot is legal and consult with the province, the Middlesex London Health Unit, and London police to find out how they will approach legal cannabis.
It also asks staff to report back to council early in 2018 with options that would be implemented when the federal government approves marujuana legalization.
The Trudeau government has said it plans to make pot legal by July 2018. Provinces are to decide at what age their citizens will be allowed to purchase and consume marijuana. Municipalities will be responsible for setting zoning and licencing rules.
The letter from Councillors Zaifman and Helmer can be read by clicking here.
