Applicant withdraws bid for Grand Forks cannabis store

City council will not be asked to consider a zoning variance permit for a cannabis store which had hoped to open in the downtown core.

The application, scheduled to go before council on Monday, April 12, was withdrawn after what Mayor Brian Taylor said was a “negative reaction from multiple levels of the community” over social media.

The applicant had asked council for a permit to operate a licenced cannabis store at 327 Market Ave, which would have required a variance to a city bylaw blocking cannabis stores from operating within 100 metres of city lots zoned for community use.

The proposed store would have opened next to an existing cannabis store, Quantum 1 Cannabis, which Taylor and city staff said was in keeping with city bylaws. The problem was that 327 Market Ave. falls within 100 metres of City Hall and parts of Grand Forks’ art gallery, both of which are zoned for community use.

City bylaws don’t require any kind of buffer between licenced cannabis stores, according to staff.

@ltritsch1 laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.