April 5, 2023 at 5:34 am
The City of Arran-Elderslie will hold a special committee meeting at 5.30pm on Wednesday to hear public input on a proposed small-batch craft cannabis facility that could move into town.
Greg and Lisa Thorn plan to build the facility along Bruce Road 17 in the village of Tara. While rural property is zoned for low-density residential and general agriculture, the City’s zoning ordinance has not been updated since cannabis legalization, so it does not address the “micro-cultivation” or “minimally processed cannabis facility” zoning attributes on the A1-. Therefore, the applicant needs a zoning bylaw amendment to move forward with the project.
That put the project open for public comment, and so far more than 25 comments have been shared with city and county staff who oppose the facility.
Key issues highlighted by opponents include potential odors, light pollution and rising crime rates.
“It’s no secret what kind of people a product of this nature would appeal to,” Leroy Brubacher wrote in his disapproval.
Most of the comments also pointed to the bad smell coming from the Lallemand Bio-Ingredient plant and suggested that marijuana would make the situation worse.
“The unpleasant ‘yeast’ smell they give off has already led us to call it ‘Smelly Town’ or ‘North Rosssay’…we don’t want another bad smell to be released in Tara or Invermey, so that We smell,” wrote Dennis and Lori Alpuff.
The proposed facility has an area of less than 500 square meters and a cultivation area of up to 200 square meters. The building will be fully enclosed with only one office exterior window at the front and no external light pollution is expected.
A planning justification report completed by consultant Miriam Vasni stated that the site was designed in such a way as to control odor at all exhaust points. Overall, she concluded that “the proposed development has merit and constitutes good planning.”
City Council does not make decisions about facilities at the meeting, but instead invites residents to share their thoughts. Once Bruce County planners have gathered all the information from the special session, another report on the property should be returned to council.
To learn more about the conference or watch it live, visit Municipality’s website.