Scenes rarely seen within the chambers of a City Council unfolded at the July 20 regular Council meeting in Merritt, over a cannabis shop looking to set up in the Adelphi building.
Over a dozen members of the public showed up to voice their opinions on Unity Cannabis, a Williams Lake-based pot shop that is the first owned by an indian band in BC.
Among those who came to speak were the owners and managers of the Adelphi, the owner of Quilchena Cannabis, and electronically, Chief of Williams Lake First Nation Willie Sellars.
Just under one month ago on June 22, the consideration was first put before Council to recommend the business license to the Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch, with public consultation having been undergone. The response at the time was overwhelmingly negative, causing Council to defer the decision to this Tuesday’s meeting, allowing for more public consultation.
Since then, over 300 pages of input from the public had also been received by City staff, both for and against.
Those opposed to the idea argued reasons such as a lack of variety in downtown core businesses, as well as the fact that the band looking to open shop was out of town, though Mayor Linda Brown said that although they are free to, no local bands have approached the City about an application.
Those that have voiced that they are for the development indicated reasons such as the beautification of the Adelphi building that would occur with new business. Garry Serko, who owns the building, mentioned that free enterprise is the backbone of the economy.
Steve Hagen, the owner of Quilchena Cannabis, noted that his store is located just 290 metres away, and while Merritt no longer has a cap on the number of cannabis shop licenses that are granted, many communities are looking at increasing the spaces between similar stores.
“To me, it doesn’t seem like the rules are being applied fairly,” said Hagen. “I’m not going to hash out competition and all that, I know that has already been considered, but I believe you guys should at the very least be asking for a variance to this application.”
Chief Sellars acknowledged the issue of the proximity to a competing business, noting that the location is compliant with the proximity requirements.
The motion was passed by a count of 4-3 to give support to a license being granted to the business, with Mayor Brown giving her approval, as well as Councillors Luck, Christopherson, and Fehr.
The passing prompted banging on the locked door from fellow Quilchena Cannabis owner April Hagen, who after being let back into the room, interrupted Council proceedings by announcing that a lawsuit would be brought to the City.
Hagen also appeared to be upset that Mayor Brown was incorrect in stating that Quilchena Cannabis was a chain store.
“You said that Quilchena Cannabis owns six other locations, we do not own six other locations, we own our one location on Quilchena Avenue, that we put our heart and soul into.”
The threat was then made of a lawsuit over the project’s approval, though details of any upcoming lawsuit are unknown at this time.
“We moved our family to Merritt to join the rest of our family members that have been upstanding community members and business owners in this town.”
Mayor Brown then shut down the speech from the business owner, saying that it was not appropriate to have the conversation in the middle of a Council meeting, and that she was welcome to speak with herself and staff the following day.
More on this story will be in the July 29 edition of the Merritt Herald.
