North Saanich council has said no to medical-marijuana production in the municipality, but one application for a licensed grow-op was filed in time to beat the new rules.

“There was quite a discussion,” said North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall. “We did have a lot of presentations against it and a couple for it.

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“The vote eventually was to prohibit for the near future any grow-ops in North Saanich.”

Finall said council accepts that a single request will go ahead.

“There’s a certain process they go through, and we were told by our chief administrative officer that that application has been validly made and will supersede the legislation,” she said. “If these people proceed as they have said they would, there will be one on McTavish Road.”

Finall noted that medical-marijuana operations are governed by federal legislation, but must meet local zoning regulations, municipal staff has said. As of April 1, federal regulations will change to encourage large-scale production over small, home-based production that can be hard to monitor.

“They changed that really because of complaints by many municipalities, including North Saanich, of the individuals growing it exceeding the number of plants and different issues,” Finall said.

Safety was a concern, too, she said.

“We had a couple in North Saanich and in residential areas, one of which had a fire. That very much upset the neighbours.”

In Central Saanich, a recent application for growing medical marijuana has been made by Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc. The company would locate in a windowless, concrete building that is in place near the Pat Bay Highway and Island View Road.

In the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, director Mike Hicks said the plan is to “spot zone” for medical-marijuana enterprise. As well, it will be classified as “intensive agriculture” within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Existing rules for setbacks will apply, he said.

“If they can’t meet those setbacks, then they’re going to have to ask for a variance and they’re going to have to ask their neighbours.”

Hicks said he anticipates benefits from the operations.

“They’re going to provide, as far as we know, possibly 10 jobs per unit. We can use the jobs out here.”

Medical-marijuana operations have to be inside a building and are closely regulated, Hicks said.

“We’re trying to learn as much as we can about it, but we’re certainly not saying ‘Not in our area.’ ”

Provincially, the B.C. Assessment Authority said that medical-marijuana operations might qualify for assessment at farm rates.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities said local governments will have to take a careful look at potential tax benefits before approving a site, as well as their appetite for having that sort of business within their jurisdictions.

jwbell@timescolonist.com