A pair of industrial buildings in Chatham could be home to medical marijuana facilities soon.
Two applications are going to Chatham-Kent council Monday night, asking for council to approve zoning changes that would allow the owners to produce medical marijuana on the sites. Municipal staff members with Chatham-Kent's planning services division are also recommending that the applications get the green light.
The first property in question is at 650 Riverview Drive. An unnamed company made that application and there is no information in the report on a timeline or specific plans for future production. If approved, the company would share the building with Enviroshake, which is located at 650 Riverview Line. Enviroshake was set to close its doors at the end of 2017 to focus on its production line in Michigan. However, plans for closure were later dropped and Enviroshake has a standing contract to remain at the Chatham lot another two years.
The second application is from Crosshair Ventures Inc., which is hoping to change the zoning at a property at 830 Richmond Street, to allow for the production of medical marijuana. That property used to host Advantage Engineering.
"Chatham-Kent has seen a number of companies show interest in investing in cannabis production in this area," said Ryan Jacques, a planner with the municipality. "These applications show a continuation of that trend."
Jacques confirmed that the two applications are associated with AgMedica Bioscience Inc., which is located in Chatham.
Although the sites would be for medical marijuana production, Jacques said in the future there may be facilities looking to cultivate marijuana for recreational use in the area.
"It is our anticipation that the demand for recreational cannabis will grow, which will lead to further production facilities being located in Canada -- and by extension, Chatham-Kent," he said.
BlackburnNews.com did reach out to AgMedica but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Correction: The previous version of the story stated that Enviroshake had closed its doors for good, has since been corrected. The headline has also been changed to reflect that. BlackburnNews.com apologizes for the misunderstanding.