Eight applications to sell legal pot in Abbotsford were submitted to the city this spring. But no more than half of those will be approved.
Staff are now reviewing the proposals, before they send them to the public and council for more feedback. Rules adopted by the city last year capped the number of cannabis stores allowed in Abbotsford at four.
Applicants had three months to get their proposals in, with the window closing on May 1. Each had to pay a $7,5000 application fee, along with the same amount to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch.
With the applications in, the first task on staff’s to-do list was to make sure that all the submissions were complete and met city bylaws. The proposals that survive that process will then be revealed to the public for its input.
After all that, staff will put together a report and send it to council, for its sign-off.
The location of the proposals won’t come as a shock; the city has already pre-zoned 10 locations to permit cannabis sales. Those sites mostly comprise malls and strip malls around Abbotsford.
The locations for the proposed shops are: 32700 South Fraser Way (West Oaks Mall), 32042 South Fraser Way, 31940 South Fraser Way, 32500 South Fraser Way, 32900 South Fraser Way, 2070 Sumas Way, 1920 North Parallel Road, 3122 Mt. Lehman Road.
All applicants had to pledge that, when they submitted their proposal, they were not currently operating an illegal cannabis store. The city did outright ban applications from operators of closed cannabis sellers.
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