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Barr, 33, said he has a federal licence to grow 163 marijuana plants for three patients, and for the last eight years has used cannabis products to treat injuries he suffered as a professional motocross racer.

The approximately $20-million first phase of the development includes a 9,300-square-metre greenhouse and six smaller greenhouses, two underground vaults and an administration building.

Within five years, the company intends to start growing 2.4 hectares of hemp, as well as researching new uses for the plant. Barr said Health Canada is looking at changing its regulations so fibre, roots and other hemp products could come from the same plants producing marijuana, which isn’t allowed now.

The company, owned by 13 people primarily from the Edmonton area, also plans to compost waste to grow fruit and vegetables, raise livestock, and use more renewable energy and fewer chemicals, Barr said.

His brother and sister-in-law live at the 30-hectare former elk ranch, which he wants to run like a family farm.

“This is such a new, unique design we’re kind of learning as we go.”

Strathcona County Coun. Paul Smith said he attended the meeting Tuesday night with at least 120 other people, most of whom weren’t happy with the proposal.

The main concern was it’s really an industrial operation that doesn’t belong in an area zoned for agriculture, Smith said.

However, under the intensive horticulture use in which the county has classed the project, the development is allowed to proceed as long as it meets all the technical requirements and doesn’t require public input, he said.