Wildflower Marijuana CEO William MacLean says his company has not withdrawn its application to build a medical marijuana facility in the rural River’s Edge community, despite reaching a deal for land within the City of Parksville.
The River’s Edge community rallied together in opposition to Wildflower’s plan and delivered a petition with more than 300 signatures on it to the Regional District of Nanaimo, which later sent a letter to Health Canada supporting the residents, who cited concerns over aquifer, groundwater, traffic and security.
“We have not removed our other (River’s Edge) application,” MacLean wrote in an e-mail to The NEWS on the weekend. “We will try one last time to meet with Health Canada, but will have closure one way or another within a couple weeks at the latest.”
There was a report in at least one other media source that Wildflower was going to abandon its plans for the River’s Edge property. Based on that, Lehann Wallace, a Rivers’ Edge resident who led the movement against Wildflower, said she’s “pretty happy about it.”
Wallace told The NEWS: “I think that when 300 people are opposed to something in their backyard the magnitude of that opposition really had no other outcome than this.”
Asked about her stance on Wildflower potentially opening a medical marijuana facility in Parksville’s industrial park, Wallace said “I think it’s a win-win … it could be a win for Parksville and it’s definitely a win for Rivers’ Edge.”
Earlier this month, Wildflower made a $20,000 non-refundable deposit to the City of Parksville for an $870,000 parcel of land in the industrial park.
— NEWS Staff
