'Only 8 metres away': Stouffville daycare raises alarm about proposed pot shop

Council passed motion expressing opposition to Main Street cannabis store site

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 29, 2021
Simon Martin

When Rudy Teunison learned there was an application for a cannabis store right next to Tiny Bubbles Childcare on Main Street in Stouffville, he couldn’t believe it.  

The child-care centre is no more than 15 metres away from the proposed Jolly Green Cannabis store on 6134 Main St.

“This location wasn’t looked at all,” Teunison said. “Our playground is only eight metres away from the store.”

While Teunison doesn’t have any qualms with cannabis stores operating, he doesn’t believe they should be located so close to daycares. “We have received many concerns from parents that they will remove children from our daycare if a store opens,” Teunison said.

Teunison and some parents aren’t the only people concerned. Whitchurch-Stouffville council passed a motion earlier this month expressing its opposition to the proposed site of the cannabis shop.

“None of us want it there. We don’t agree with it being there,” Ward 4 Coun. Rick Upton said. “Our hands are tied; our authority is limited.”

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), rather than the town, is the approval authority for cannabis retail store applications.

Municipalities and the public can comment on applications through the AGCO’s online web portal during a 15-day public notice phase.

Director of Planning Haiqing Xu said the timeline poses a number of challenges for staff to respond in a timely manner. When the town tried to make comments to the AGCO about the location of Jolly Green Cannabis, they were told it was after the 15-day public notice.

Under the province’s regulations, a cannabis retail store must be located no closer than 150 metres to a school or private school, as defined by the Education Act.

But according to a town staff report, daycare centres are regulated under the Day Nurseries Act and not subject to the 150-metre regulation. Mayor Iain Lovatt said he believes Tiny Bubbles should be considered a private school.

After extensive public consultation in 2019, council made the decision to opt-in to allow cannabis retail stores within the municipality. Along with Aurora, they were the only two municipalities in York Region to do so.

Both Teunison and Lovatt reached out to Markham-Stouffville MPP Paul Calandra's office to raise their concern about the proposal. While Calandra said the application is still before the AGCO and it would be premature to comment on it, he did make it clear that council and town staff shouldn’t be blindsided by any of this.

“I would remind Whitchurch-Stouffville council that the rules around setbacks from schools and municipal involvement in the licensing process were made very clear in 2018 when the province passed the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018 framework,” he said. “The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville voluntarily opted-in to allowing retail cannabis outlets in Stouffville.

“They were not forced into this decision and were counselled explicitly by the province that a decision to opt-in could not be reversed and if opted-in, a municipality would not have approval authority over the locations of authorized retail stores.”

Calandra added the government has put strict rules in place for private cannabis stores to help keep kids safe and ensure retailers behave with integrity. Under the provincial act, cannabis retail stores are only permitted in commercial zones.

Additionally, municipalities who opted-in do not have the power or authority to determine the number of cannabis retail stores permissible.

Currently, there are five active applications and two cannabis stores already operating: One Plant on Main Street and Gormley Cannabis, located at the corner of Woodbine Avenue and Stouffville Road.