Council not reviewing cannabis buffer zones

After receiving a report from Council on procedures in other communities around B.C., Merritt City Council will not be reviewing cannabis buffer zones.

“Of the communities considered, slightly over half have a buffer zone requirement, and those who do are fairly consistent in what they require spacing from, with parks, schools (and similar uses to those) and other retail cannabis stores being the main targets,” wrote Greg Lowis, Director of Corporate Services.

“Of the communities who use buffer zones, Merritt’s distances seem broadly comparable – depending on the buffer, Merritt’s distances are 100-150metres. Other communities prohibit stores from a minimum of 50m to a maximum of 300m from other specific uses,” added Lowis.

Due to Merritt being consistent with other municipalities, Staff did not make a recommendation to council on the matter.

“There has probably been enough discussion on this. Just the fact that the buffer zones vary so wildly, I don’t think there is any objective way to say if a buffer zone helps or doesn’t help,” said Councillor Travis Fehr.