VIANARCHRIS
Well-Known Member
Kris Mudliar has a date Wednesday at Vancouver city hall to make the case that his business shouldn’t go up in smoke over the question of a few metres of sidewalk.
Mudliar, who owns Cannpassion Medicinal Cannabis Society, is scheduled to be the first of dozens of pot shop owners to appear.
Appeals before the city’s Board of Variance start this Wednesday, with Mudliar and three other dispensary owners on the agenda, and are scheduled to continue at bimonthly meetings over the next nine months.
Different figures in the local bud business have different visions for how the next year will play out.
Cannpassion, described by Mudliar as “Vancouver’s Mom-and-Pop dispensary,” has operated on Kingsway in East Vancouver for four years, well before the vast majority of the city’s 100 or so dispensaries popped up over the last year.
But the shop was found to be in violation of city regulations released last year, which dictated all marijuana-related businesses be at least 300 metres from schools and community centres.
The city measured the distance “as the crow flies,” Mudliar said, determining Cannpassion was 296 metres from a private high school — four metres under the minimum acceptable distance.
But, Mudliar said, if the distance is measured along roads or sidewalks, it’s more than 500 metres. That’s the argument he’ll present Wednesday.
The Board of Variance, which regularly hears appeals on decisions made under bylaws covering everything from parking to trees to zoning and development, meets at city hall and its sessions are open to the public.
The city received 176 applications from prospective pot shop owners last year, and earlier this month issued development permits to the 14 deemed to be in compliance with zoning regulations.
The next step for those 14 permit-holders will be to apply for a business licence, Vancouver director of licensing Andreea Toma told The Province last month, adding the city’s first dispensary licences could be issued this spring.
Following the initial rejection, 62 applicants, including Mudliar, filed appeals.
Mudliar praised the people working at the Board of Variance office, who he said are stressed out right now, extremely busy, and working very hard.
“It’s pretty crazy and it’s very stressful right now with what’s going on,” Mudliar said.
“I do understand where they’re coming from, and why they’re doing this, and that’s why I want to be able to help and work with the city and not just fight them.”
The board is expected to deliver decisions the same day the appeals are heard, said city spokesman Jag Sandhu. Applicants rejected by the board must close their stores within six months.
“After six months, the city can use a range of enforcement tools, including fines and legal action,” said Sandhu.
But the owner of the city’s largest chain of dispensaries said he has no intention of closing any time soon, regardless of the board’s decision on any of his appeals.
“I can see a big can of worms opening up here,” said Don Briere, who operates Weeds Glass and Gifts locations not only around Vancouver but on the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Valley, and Toronto.
Mudliar, who owns Cannpassion Medicinal Cannabis Society, is scheduled to be the first of dozens of pot shop owners to appear.
Appeals before the city’s Board of Variance start this Wednesday, with Mudliar and three other dispensary owners on the agenda, and are scheduled to continue at bimonthly meetings over the next nine months.
Different figures in the local bud business have different visions for how the next year will play out.
Cannpassion, described by Mudliar as “Vancouver’s Mom-and-Pop dispensary,” has operated on Kingsway in East Vancouver for four years, well before the vast majority of the city’s 100 or so dispensaries popped up over the last year.
But the shop was found to be in violation of city regulations released last year, which dictated all marijuana-related businesses be at least 300 metres from schools and community centres.
The city measured the distance “as the crow flies,” Mudliar said, determining Cannpassion was 296 metres from a private high school — four metres under the minimum acceptable distance.
But, Mudliar said, if the distance is measured along roads or sidewalks, it’s more than 500 metres. That’s the argument he’ll present Wednesday.
The Board of Variance, which regularly hears appeals on decisions made under bylaws covering everything from parking to trees to zoning and development, meets at city hall and its sessions are open to the public.
The city received 176 applications from prospective pot shop owners last year, and earlier this month issued development permits to the 14 deemed to be in compliance with zoning regulations.
The next step for those 14 permit-holders will be to apply for a business licence, Vancouver director of licensing Andreea Toma told The Province last month, adding the city’s first dispensary licences could be issued this spring.
Following the initial rejection, 62 applicants, including Mudliar, filed appeals.
Mudliar praised the people working at the Board of Variance office, who he said are stressed out right now, extremely busy, and working very hard.
“It’s pretty crazy and it’s very stressful right now with what’s going on,” Mudliar said.
“I do understand where they’re coming from, and why they’re doing this, and that’s why I want to be able to help and work with the city and not just fight them.”
The board is expected to deliver decisions the same day the appeals are heard, said city spokesman Jag Sandhu. Applicants rejected by the board must close their stores within six months.
“After six months, the city can use a range of enforcement tools, including fines and legal action,” said Sandhu.
But the owner of the city’s largest chain of dispensaries said he has no intention of closing any time soon, regardless of the board’s decision on any of his appeals.
“I can see a big can of worms opening up here,” said Don Briere, who operates Weeds Glass and Gifts locations not only around Vancouver but on the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Valley, and Toronto.
