Vernon to review proposed pot shop blocked twice by rule changes

VERNON – Vernon council is set to break its own rules and will consider an application for another cannabis store to open, although it had previously placed a moratorium on pot shops opening in the city.

The exception to the rule comes after a representative for Vernon Cannabis Store presented to council's meeting explaining how two applications to open cannabis stores had been quashed by just a matter of days when the city changed its rules.

According to Vernon Cannabis Store spokesperson Harpreet Nahal, the company made an application to open a pot shop at 3110 29 Ave. on April 19. Although the province approved the application, four days later council put restrictions on the number of stores that could open in the downtown core, limiting the number to six, and effectively stopping the store from opening.

The business then tried to open a store outside the Business Improvement Area and signed a lease to open a store at 200A 3107 48 St. on July 24. Five days later Vernon council put a moratorium on any more cannabis stores opening in the city.

The store's spokesperson asked council for this application to be looked at as an exception to the rule.

"This is exactly where we didn't want to be," councillor Brian Quiring told the meeting. "We are already having to wriggle around our own rules."

Coun. Quiring argued the moratorium should never have been put in place in the first place and that the free market would dictate how many stores failed and how many survived. He put forward a motion to remove the pot shop ban.

Councillor Kari Gares pointed to the fact cannabis was a controlled substance and it was too early to remove the moratorium.

Quiring's motion was promptly defeated by the rest of council.

Councillor Scott Anderson put forward a motion to make a single exception to this application. While debate followed discussing whether this meant other stores would also ask for an exception Anderson pointed out they were welcome to do so and could be looked at on an individual basis.

Council voted unanimously to review the Vernon Cannabis Store's application at its next meeting.

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