'It's rampant': East Gwillimbury moves to slow growth of marijuana greenhouses

Town has passed interim control bylaw to curb development of marijuana greenhouses in rural areas

Yorkregion.com
June 17, 2020
Simon Martin

You might have noticed a bunch of new greenhouses popping up in the rural lands of East Gwillimbury. The greenhouses don’t appear to be growing tomatoes, either.

Residents and the town say they are medical marijuana grow-ops, and East Gwillimbury has received complaints relating to existing and emerging marijuana facilities at sites located on Boag Road, Catering Road, Woodbine Avenue and in a residential subdivision.

Mayor Virginia Hackson said that while the town saw a few greenhouses erected in 2019, things have really gotten intense this year with eight properties being used for marijuana production, according to the town. Oftentimes the greenhouses are built without notice or the proper permits. “They go up relatively quickly without ever coming to the town,” Hackson said. “There is something wrong here.”

The town has attempted to use the tools at its disposal, including four cease-and-desist notices, three orders to comply and two stop work orders, but the conventional tools haven’t been effective in addressing council’s concerns.

So council took it up a notch on June 9, passing an interim control bylaw restricting the development of cannabis production facilities outside of industrial zoned areas for one year as they evaluate the situation.

Hackson said the measure was necessary to help gain more control over the current situation. “It gives us the tools to see what is going on,” she said. “It provides the town with time.”

The issue has become a major problem in the rural areas of many towns, including East Gwillimbury, said Ward 3 Coun. Scott Crone. Concerned residents have been calling the councillor as they see large greenhouses go up. The town’s bylaw permits marijuana-growing operations in industrial areas. Crone said these facilities get around the bylaw by using individuals’ personal medical marijuana licenses at the same facility.

“If you want to grow it, that’s fine, but (you've) got to do it in an industrial area,” Crone said.

Bill Potts has lived in rural East Gwillimbury for more than 50 years, and he has concerns with what is happening to the rural landscape.

“It is getting rampant,” he said.

Hackson said the new interim control bylaw will allow the town to enforce a stop work order by use of injunction. “We can stop anything that is going on,” Hackson said, although the bylaw doesn’t affect facilities that are already operational.

Crone called the matter the single biggest issue before council.

What has been happening, according to Hackson, is that rural land is purchased -- oftentimes in the Greenbelt and the Oak Ridges Moraine, which can’t be developed -- and the individuals start building without any permits.

According to town staff, the interim control bylaw will allow the town to do a land use study on the implications of cannabis production facilities, and will allow for the development of land use regulations and policies that specifically address the concerns related to this use.

The Town of Georgina recently passed a similar bylaw to evaluate whether cannabis production facilities should be permitted in the rural agricultural zone or whether industrial zoning is more appropriate.

Ward 1 Coun. Loralea Carruthers said that there is a danger that the operations could support the black market. But, Carruthers said, it's important to make sure that there are no unintended consequences for individuals legitimately growing their own medical marijuana for health reasons.