Residents of two St. Catharines wards are raising the alarm about possible cannabis production facilities opening in the city and are asking for stop measures to be put in place.

The sense of urgency comes at the same time the city has been informed an application for a facility on Seventh Street Louth has been approved by Health Canada.

Two other applications for facilities in St. Catharines were received by the agency, both in the area of Port Weller. The city said one on Keefer Road is believed to have been withdrawn while the status of the other on Read Road remains unknown.

"Like other communities across Niagara that are now dealing with cannabis production, there are huge concerns," said David DeRocco, president of Port Weller Residents Association, which started a petition asking the city to weed out cannabis production from urban areas.

"No. 1, and the most significant, is the odour that comes from these facilities."

Other issues are related to lighting, noise, traffic, security and property values.

DeRocco said communities are starting to realize their bylaws are inadequate to challenge the production facilities because cannabis is an agricultural product and there's no discrimination between it and other crops.

"You can grow carrots or you can grow cannabis based on the zoning. One is a little stinkier than the other."

Grantham Coun. Bill Phillips, whose ward includes Port Weller, said having a cannabis facility near Happy Rolph's Animal Farm on Read Road would have a significant impact for visitors there as well as for residents in the northeast.

"It definitely, without a doubt, is a huge concern," Phillips said. "In no way should a grow-op be located within the city's boundaries. To me, the concerns that the residents have are very legitimate as far as odour and traffic."

Port Dalhousie Coun. Carlos Garcia said he's received dozens of emails and about 20 phone calls from his ward, as well as from the Seventh Street and Port Weller areas.

While the city isn't aware of any applications to Health Canada for facilities in Port Dalhousie, residents there are concerned about what could happen if greenhouses on Third Street and Lakeshore Road West are ever sold .

Garcia is bringing a motion to council Monday night asking that an immediate interim control bylaw be applied to agricultural lands in St. Catharines to prohibit cannabis production facilities.

An interim control bylaw stops the permission of land use for one year while impacts of the land use are studied.

"Cannabis is legal, we all know that, so obviously they have to grow it somewhere," he said. "What we want to look at is what the rules should be in terms of areas that are adjacent to residential areas."

Port Dalhousie resident John Bakker, who plans to be at council to support the motion, said there is a great concern with some of the effects the industry has on neighbouring homes and farms in the rural area. The biggest is pungent odour.

"There's a lot at stake here and that's a quality of life thing for everybody else living in the area," Bakker said, adding other Niagara municipalities have had problems related to the facilities.

"I think it would be wise for the city just to step in and say, let's hold on for a minute here. Let's figure this out."

Cannabis production facilities are permitted in St. Catharines on lands that are zoned general employment, which includes manufacturing and warehousing, and agricultural.

Tami Kitay, the city's director of planning and building services, said the municipality passed an interim control bylaw in 2018 to review recreational cannabis retail stores which applied to the urban area and included general employment lands.

Under the province's Planning Act, an interim control bylaw can't be applied to the same area twice in three years.

Kitay said that means the city can't apply an interim control bylaw to general employment lands but could for agricultural lands because they weren't part of the 2018 action.

Health Canada is in charge of evaluating and approving applications for cannabis production facilities.

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Kitay said staff have reached out to Health Canada to get clarification on whether an interim control bylaw can apply to applications submitted but not yet approved.

The city also wants to know what evaluation criteria Health Canada is using when it approves facilities, whether the city can participate in the process and what the status is of applications in the city.

Health Canada told The St. Catharines Standard it cannot confirm or discuss specific applications for a cannabis licence for reasons of privacy and business confidentiality.

A Health Canada spokesman said in an email that once licensed, all cultivators and processors are expected to obey relevant federal, provincial and municipal laws and bylaws, including those governing zoning, location, odour and noise.

He said municipalities can implement any limitations on zoning, location or other controls it feels are appropriate in their jurisdictions.

St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle said Health Canada has a role in the overall regulation of cannabis product but in terms of where facilities are located, it's a zoning issue.

"Having toured a couple of these facilities, I do get the understanding and concern about smell and noise. It is a nuisance and the city does have the ability to regulate and control nuisances."

DeRocco of Port Weller said the simple reality is the city's bylaws currently allow the establishment of production facilities within the urban boundaries of St. Catharines and "that's not good for anybody."

"What we're trying to do is raise concern across the city that this could happen anywhere," he said.

“This is not another NIMBY, Not In Port Weller, situation.”

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