Wainfleet politicians plan to prohibit any new cannabis production facilities while they have township staff conduct a review of land use policies to develop policies and regulations to manage cannabis growing operations and cannabis-related uses.

Township staff and council members, meanwhile, say greenhouse operations that have obtained licenses to grow medical marijuana in Wainfleet are thumbing their noses at township approvals they're supposed to get.

At the same meeting when they directed township staff to come up with an interim bylaw to prohibit any new cannabis growing operations while township planner Sarah Ivins gets moving on the land use review, township council members also wrestled with how much to charge large-scale greenhouse facilities for building permits.

The previous township council wanted staff to come up with lower fees for greenhouses than other farm buildings, which township chief building official Randy De Guire said in a new report can have more complex construction, meaning more time-consuming and frequent inspections.

The fear among some present council members is that because Wainfleet's building permit fees for new greenhouses are among the cheapest in Niagara, that could have people who want to build new greenhouse operations to produce cannabis for the newly legalized recreational cannabis market knocking on Wainfleet's door.

Ivins made it clear to council at the March 5 meeting that Wainfleet is getting inquiries from people about the possibility of constructing new buildings to grow cannabis for the recreational market. "Wainfleet's rural setting is attractive for this type of operation," she said in a new report.

At present, the township's zoning bylaw only covers medical marijuana facilities, leaving the township open to the possibility of people establishing recreational cannabis production in existing greenhouses, said Ivins. "Technically, they can," she said.

The township took steps earlier to place controls over medical marijuana facilities. It requires those facilities to have a township-approved site plan agreement covering such things as security fencing and reducing glare on security lighting.

In late 2017, the township also adopted a licensing bylaw for medical marijuana facilities - similar to business licensing - which must be renewed each year, covering thing such as authorizing inspections, penalties for bylaw contraventions, and authorizing the licence manager to revoke or suspend licenses.

There are several such facilities in Wainfleet that are producing medical marijuana that have not obtained the required township approvals, said Ivins, who noted township staff are trying to get those operators into compliance.

Mayor Kevin Gibson expressed frustration at those operations not getting township approvals.

"They're totally ignoring the whole thing," he said. "They're just putting up their greenhouses and running.

"Right now they're not doing anything," said Gibson. "They're not even coming in to get a . license. There's no teeth to the bylaw to make them come and do what they have to do, not when you're dealing with million-dollar products."

The interim control bylaw that will come back to council for approval will put a one-year prohibition in place, with the option to extend that.

When they discussed the building permit fees for greenhouses, township politicians were obviously nervous over the possibility of a deluge of recreational cannabis operations.

Gibson noted the proposed new fees for greenhouses were lower than Wainfleet's existing fees, which were already seen as low compared to most of Niagara.

Coun. Sherri Van Vliet said the township doesn't want to penalize existing greenhouse operations that might want to expand, but worried that fees too low would make Wainfleet more attractive as a location for greenhouse operations growing recreational cannabis.

"We're obviously going to be overwhelmed with some operations we don't really want," she said. "I'm trying to not have those ones come in.

"But I don't want to impact existing greenhouses."

At the suggestion of Coun. Donna Cridland, township politicians agreed to make the fees charged by Wainfleet - which would be a base rate plus $1.21 per square metre for buildings larger than 463 square metres - slightly higher to match Lincoln's. That will bump the $1.21 up to $1.40 per square metre.

Gibson said residents will be able to tell township politicians how they want the cannabis production facility issue dealt with as one topic sure to pop up at a planned townhall-type public meeting planned for later this month.

- A cannabis factory, a quiet little hamlet, and an inconvenient borderline

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