More York Region municipalities turn thumbs down to legal pot shops
Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti says his town off the list for the first cannabis outlets

YorkRegion.com
Dec. 8, 2017
Kim Zarzour

Another York Region mayor has taken a pass on pot stores.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, joining Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow and East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson, announced on Twitter that he does not want his city to be among the first municipalities to host a marijuana outlet.

“On behalf of the community, I've asked to remove Markham from the first round of LCBO run cannabis store locations,” he tweeted yesterday.

“Kudos to the province for engaging municipalities but we need to study this more and address public safety concerns.”

The Town of Richmond Hill got the ball rolling at a committee meeting Nov. 4 when councillors unanimously passed a motion to advise Ontario’s attorney general and local MPPs that the municipality is “not a willing host of a cannabis retail location.”

The motion was in response to residents’ emails and delegations to council expressing concern about keeping children and the community safe.

A town staff report said the province has not provided municipalities with sufficient time to identify issues and impact on the communities — such as where cannabis may be used, how pot use in private homes will be addressed (particularly in multi-residential housing), how the odour could impact backyard enjoyment and the need for municipalities to control where stores are located to address community concerns.

The province intends to open 40 standalone stores by July 2018, an additional 80 by July 2019 and 150 by 2020.

Last month, Ontario named 14 cities to have the first LCBO-run recreational marijuana stores. Vaughan is the first to be identified in York Region and has not voiced an official opinion; instead it has created an interdepartmental cannabis working group.

The Town of Richmond Hill received notice Nov. 28 that it, too, was identified for at least one initial cannabis retail store for July 2018.

But members of council said the move is too rushed and the province has not yet clarified how local municipalities and police will fund and manage control and enforcement.

"We, council, are well aware this is coming," Coun Karen Cilevitz posted on Facebook this week, in response to a deluge of social media reaction to the town's motion.

"What we did on Monday was to hope the province listens to us, giving Richmond Hill more time to have everything in place in order to be able to control, manage and enforce legislation handed down from the feds and province."

It appears the province is prepared to listen.

“If a municipality is not prepared to locate a store, the province will defer locating in that municipality,” said Jessica Martin, spokesperson for the Minister of Finance.

Martin said the LCBO has made municipal engagement a priority when it comes to the retail siting process.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario was involved in establishing the initial guidelines for siting stores, including achieving geographic distribution and combating illegal dispensaries, she said.

“As we roll out the next phase of stores, we will continue to engage with municipalities on an ongoing basis, including with those municipalities who may not be ready for a store opening in July 2018.

“Ultimately, our goal through a controlled model is to ensure a safe and sensible framework for cannabis legalization.”