CK Medical Marijuana Facility Up For Approval

Chatham-Kent council will decide Monday night whether a proposed medical marijuana facility will get the green light to move forward just east of Chatham.

A report will be presented at Monday night's meeting that recommends council approves a zoning bylaw amendment application to rezone the land at 10078 Longwoods Rd. to an agricultural zone that would allow the following:

• Phase 1: A medical marijuana production facility as a permitted use in zone A1, up to a maximum of 30,000 sq ft in an enclosed building
• Phase 2: An additional 120,000 sq ft for a medical marijuana production facility, once certain conditions have been met to remove the Holding Symbol

According to the municipality's report, the plot of land is approximately 0.7 ac. The area is currently under the zone of "Rural Highway Commercial." A previous zoning bylaw amendment was approved in 2014 to add a medical marijuana production facility as an additional permitted use at this location.

The applicants are now proposing to demolish the existing structure on the plot of land and replace it with a new state-of-art facility located on an area of farmland next to it.

The report states the applicants have noted that “the proposed facility will be designed to conform to Health Canada's specifications and as a result, will meet and exceed the security and quality requirements under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), thus making it one of the top facilities nationwide."

According to the municipality, this application was originally scheduled to be heard at the February 12 council meeting, but many residents reached out to raise concerns, so the issue was pushed back by a month and a half.

The main concerns that were raised include:

• The odour that the marijuana plants may produce as they mature
• The lighting impact of the facilities: Marijuana growers often install twice as many lights as most vegetable greenhouses and these lights are typically on for 12 to 18 hours per day
• Scale/size of the potential development
•  The adequacy of the municipal regulations/bylaws currently in place

As a result of these concerns, the application was postponed and a public information session was held on Wednesday, March 7 in Chatham. It is reported that 35 residents attended the meeting.

Based on the public input received to date, the municipality says it appears there were no serious concerns with regards to Phase 1, because it will be a smaller, fully-enclosed building. However, there was still concern about Phase 2, which could end up being a fully-enclosed building or might be a greenhouse.

It is recommended that the zoning bylaw be amended to permit Phase 1 with a hold placed on the property for Phase 2. A subsequent planning application would be required and must be approved by council for the applicants to move forward with that phase. Further public consultation would also be required.

It is noted that the applicants are also required to obtain site plan approval in order to carry out the proposed development. This application is expected in the near future.

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