Nelson City Council were presented with results of a city-wide feedback form on non-medical cannabis legalization a media release said Wednesday.

The release added, results are now available to the public.

City staff said overall, people felt that four stores was the maximum number of cannabis retail stores that should be allowed in Nelson.

"Downtown has the most support for retail cannabis with up to two stores, while the Chahko-Mika Mall is the area with the least support for retail cannabis," the City release said.

"Depending on the area of the city, between 20% and 46% of respondents thought that there should be no retail outlets and on the other end of the spectrum, between 13% and 19% felt there should be no restriction on the number of cannabis stores."

The release added that the majority (74%) of all respondents supports no public consumption of cannabis in all public places and 64% strongly or somewhat support investing more resources into enforcement against public use of cannabis.

"The views that there should be limited stores and no public consumption of cannabis were echoed by the business community, social sector, and the Nelson Police Department," the City release said.

"The cannabis industry was split on the need for a cap on retail stores versus a free-market approach."

"The very high response rate we received makes this a strong statistical result and provides a strong indication of the wishes of the community," the release added.

City staff said in early February, the feedback form was mailed to all households (4,959) and storefront businesses (686) using lists from the City’s mapping and business licence records. Households were given the option of picking up a form if they had not received one; however, only seven were picked up from City Hall.

The engagement results can be downloaded at www.nelson.ca/cannabis. A drop-in open house will be held on Tuesday, May 1st from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Adventure Hotel Banquet Room at 616 Vernon Street to present the engagement results as well as draft regulation options to the public.

"Council will consider new regulations on cannabis retail and use as early as June," the release said.

"The exact timing will depend on when provincial regulations are adopted. The exact date of federal legalization and the beginning of legal retail sales is still unclear. The City of Nelson’s moratorium on new cannabis-related businesses will not be lifted until the new City regulations are in place."