I want to thank PelhamToday for their continued interest in and reporting on the cannabis odour problems in Pelham. Just a few days ago, PelhamToday reported on the plans for a newly proposed cannabis grow-op at the former CannTrust/Phoena property on Balfour Street. Phoena shut down its cannabis grow-op last summer, including giving up its Health Canada Cannabis Licence, entering into liquidation proceedings, and selling the Balfour Street property and its assets to a new owner.
I was pleased to answer some questions for the cited article; and I would like to clarify below one inference made in the article to avoid any confusion in the future. The plant is “not to be used for cannabis again, except in compliance with the new Pelham cannabis regulations”. Those regulations are spelled out in Pelham’s Odorous Industries Nuisance Bylaw, passed March 2020.
My quote above is accurate. However, the Pelham cannabis regulations I was referring to is not the Odorous Industries Nuisance Bylaw but rather Pelham’s cannabis Official Plan Amendment (c-OPA) and its cannabis Zoning Bylaw Amendment (c-ZBA) which can be found in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of the Ontario Land Tribunal order which approved them.
The c-OPA prohibits newly proposed indoor cannabis cultivation (including for the case of a proposal to expand an existing legal non-conforming cannabis facility) without (i) first carrying out various studies including odour emission studies to confirm that there will be no adverse affects on neighbours or at least that they can be suitably mitigated, and (ii) and obtaining a zoning by-law amendment from Council to proceed which would require a public meeting that residents can participate in. Only then can a building permit be issued for a new indoor grow-op.
I will continue to keep you informed here as the Pelham Cannabis Regulations developed by the former Cannabis Control Committee which I chaired work their way to full implementation in our town.
Tim J. Nohara
Fenwick
