Medical Marijuana Facility Gets Green Light In CK

A new state-of-the-art medical marijuana facility is one step closer to coming to Chatham-Kent.

Council voted 13-3 at Monday night's meeting to approve the facility's 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

The applicants are 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.

Director of Planning Services Bruce McAllister says the second structure is still just a possibility and could either be an enclosed structure or a greenhouse. He says there may also be room for expansion in the future but the applicants would have to go through the same zoning process again.

McAllister says the applicants are already registered for marijuana growing purposes on their property.

Councillor Mark Authier says he has already received a lot of complaints about the smell coming from the property.

However, the founding partners of Curative Cannabis, the company behind the facility, say smell won't be an issue.

Curative Cannabis. (Photo courtesy of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent).

According to founder David Shpilt, there will be several odour control strategies implemented at the new facility like activated carbon filters.

McAllister adds that Health Canada is the regulator for the facility and will do regular inspections to ensure there are no emissions being released.

Another concern from members of the public was the strong lighting associated with marijuana production facilities, but founder Scott FitzGerald assures residents that there will be blackout curtains in the proposed greenhouse building that will block out any light.

It is also noted that waste will be mixed with soil or kitty litter and disposed of safely off-site.

According to Mayor Randy Hope, there is still more to be done. He says a site plan will need to come back to council for approval.