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Budding cannabis retailers are one step closer to opening for business as Calgary began accepting applications for recreational cannabis stores this week.

Development permits started rolling in to city hall at 8 a.m. on Tuesday as potential retailers threw their hats in the ring to open the city’s first round of cannabis storefronts once recreational uses are legalized this summer.

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A total of 226 development permit applications were submitted on Tuesday, with 199 of the applications coming in online. The city said most submissions arrived in the first 17 minutes of the office opening.

Brandy MacInnis, senior special projects officer with the city, said there were 14 people lined up at 6 a.m. at city hall. Extra staff were assigned to help streamline the in-person application process.

“Knowing that there is a lot of interest in this type of application, we thought that we should offer a couple of options,” she said.