Pitt Meadows slams lid on potential pot shop

Pitt Meadows city council is not looking to add another cannabis retail store to the community of roughly 19,000 people. 

At a meeting on Tuesday evening, council voted 4-3 against an application for a new pot shop at 19167 Ford Road, located within the Jolly Coachman Pub. 

The proposed location, which would have been within 202 metres of the Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre — which includes the Rick O’Brien Youth Lounge — and four daycare facilities, would have moved to a public hearing, if council granted approval. 

Cannabis stores are not permitted within 200 metres of schools, playgrounds and sports fields. 

“I do believe child care is similar to schooling,” said Mayor Nicole MacDonald, who voted against the motion. “The [Rick O’Brien youth lounge and] basketball court is a gathering place for many of our youth, and you can see it’s within that 200.”  

It would have been the third cannabis retail store in Pitt Meadows. 

In less than two years, Pitt Meadows approved cannabis outlets in the Meadowtown Shopping Centre and Meadowvale Shopping Centre. 

An application for a producer retail store on Old Dewdney Trunk Road has also been approved.

Couns. Bob Meachen, Gwen O’Connell and Tracy Elke voted in favour of the application. 

Meachen said he understands any concerns about locating a cannabis store next to an elementary school or high school. But he highlighted the potential health benefits of cannabis, noting it’s a legal product to sell in Canada. 

“I ask myself, ‘Why would I choose to be different about this product than I would to open a new sushi store, or pizza store in Pitt Meadows?’ We got lots of those,” he said. 

Similarly, Elke voiced concern with the city roadblocking a new business — even if it was another cannabis retailer. 

“Who are we to say that the community won’t respond to that or support that,” she said. 

O’Connell, who has voted against previous cannabis store applications in the past, also preferred having the application move forward to a hearing so residents could have a say on the matter. 

A meeting was held in June to provide more information about the prospective store. 

At the session, the applicant, the Jolly Coachman Pub, shared that they had received 692 letters of support for the location, with many outlining its convenient location beside a pub and liquor store and how it may deter illegal sales of the product. 

Five members of the public also attended and four supported the application, according to a report. 

The application is different compared to a new business looking to open a sushi restaurant or coffee shop, MacDonald said, adding Pitt Meadows used to have a moratorium on the sale of cannabis. 

Those businesses don’t have rules and regulations that cannabis retailers do, she said. 

The sentiment resonated with Coun. Mike Hayes, who expressed hesitation on adding another cannabis shop to the relatively small community. 

“This is different than a coffee shop or a sushi shop,” he said. “I don’t feel Pitt Meadows, being the size that it is, needs another cannabis retail outlet.” 

Coun. Alison Evans recognized the significance of not forcing residents to leave town to purchase cannabis, however, didn’t like the location of the proposed location. 

If council would have approved the location, the city only had a few other choices to place another store in the future — the areas coated in red on the map — due to zoning bylaws, according to Patrick Ward, director of planning and development. 

And if council approved the application, Ward added that staff would have brought an amendment forward to limit the number of retail shops in the city’s urban area to three.