The owners of Coastline Canada expect their proposed cannabis production facility in Courtenay will produce 60 to 100 jobs, with benefits, that pay higher than $16-something per hour.
Company co-founders Richard Park and Dylan Hardie have yet to apply for a permit to build the facility at 3310 Fraser Rd., near Millard Nature Park off Island Highway South.
The acreage sits in the Agricultural Land Reserve. Some neighboring property owners are concerned about light, noise and smells that will come from the indoor facility.
“We feel we can address most of these,” Hardie said at a Sept. 4 presentation to Courtenay council. “Our facility will be supplying to Health Canada, which will go to patients. We’re not a dispensary.”
Park and Hardie are not sure if the facility will incorporate a concrete bunker or a greenhouse. The former would be less odorous.
While the City cannot restrict cannabis production of ALR lands, it can restrict concrete-based facilities, or bunkers, in the ALR.
Fraser Road resident Cheryl Glennie said odours will worsen in winter because smells will be trapped under inversions. She is also concerned about non-stop noise, decreased property values and loss of security.
“Will I feel safe living next to it? No, and I think a lot of my neighbours would agree with me,” Glennie said to council. “The ALR should be preserved for our future food security.”
Mayor Larry Jangula questioned why Coastline didn’t choose a more isolated location, though Hardie is not sure he considers Fraser Road a residential area.
Jangula also thought 60-100 jobs sounds like a high estimate. Park said the many intricacies involved with the process will require a large mix of skilled and non-skilled laborers.
Park encourages the public to contact him with questions and concerns at richard@coastlinecanada.com
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