A new business could be taking over the old Maple Leaf Foods plant in North Battleford, but the product may be a little unusual.

The plant at 99 Canola Ave. could be producing medical marijuana in the near future, a big change from the bacon that was processed at the facility before.

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The issue came before council Monday night, as councillors considered a possible zoning bylaw amendment that would clear the way for such a development.

According to the City's director of planning and development, Jennifer Niesink, the prospective new owners of the address have a pending lease with a company that would grow hemp and medicinal marijuana inside the building.

Niesink told council Monday night that this “isn’t a firm go-ahead,” as medicinal marijuana is federally regulated through Health Canada.

Municipalities can regulate the location of production facilities through zoning and through business licensing. Administration officials were of the belief that the City’s heavy-industrial zone would be an appropriate area for such a use.

However, there was no specific mention of medical marijuana in their zoning bylaw. On Monday, administration sought a bylaw amendment to add the definition of “medical marijuana facility” to the “Heavy Industrial District M2 Table 6-16” as a Discretionary Use.

The resolution directing administration to prepare that bylaw passed unanimously at Monday’s meeting. Administration now can begin drafting the bylaw amendment and start the public notice period, with the bylaw to be introduced at a future meeting.

The Canola Ave. plant has been sitting empty in the Parsons Industrial Park area for four years.

Councillor Len Taylor had been serving as an MLA when the announcement of the Maple Leaf plant closure was made in 2011.

“We were all surprised” when the plant was shut down, he said at council Monday.

Taylor also noted there have been numerous meetings to try and find a replacement operator, and that he had been skeptical about finding one because he believed the building was “much too specific” to have a secondary use.

“I’m quite pleased to see that there is an opportunity here to utilize that structure,” said Taylor.

He was supportive of the project “being given an opportunity to develop." Although Taylor admitted, "We have no idea where it’s going to go.”

He also welcomed the chance to see business activity return to that location, stating, “It’s not nice to have boarded-up corners in our industrial park,”

Councillor Kevin Steinborn noted he had seen a documentary on NBC about a medicinal marijuana plant in Colorado which illustrated the processed product had a lot of health benefits “that I didn’t know about before,” he said.

“The show really opened up my eyes about what a facility like this might do,” said Steinborn, to the “economic growth for North Battleford and the jobs that it would possess. There’s a whole bunch of good positive things to it.”

Mayor Ryan Bater said he was excited by the prospect of an empty building “being not empty,” and of jobs being created.

He also noted that the whole federal discussion of possible legalization of marijuana had an impact on municipalities.

“This has an impact on a municipality because of zoning, not just for production but also potential retail,” said Bater. “So I think in the years ahead we are going to be having more discussions like this, and I think there’s going to be a lot of discussions around the country about if this is to happen, what that look like from a regulation point of view and what responsibilities we have as a municipality.”