Pubdate: Thu, 06 Feb 2014
Source: Banner, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Orangeville Banner
Contact:  http://www.orangeville.com/orangeville-on/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2217
Author: Todd McEwen

MONO, MULMUR WON'T BE GROWING MARIJUANA

Mono and Mulmur won't be falling victim to reefer madness anytime
soon.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) is putting the brakes on
either municipality cashing in on medical marijuana production because
it doesn't fall within the definition of general or special
agricultural development.

Orangeville and Caledon have both expressed interest in setting up
shop, but as Mono Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee said, the NEC won't allow a
facility of that nature to exist in such rural areas like Mono and
Mulmur.

"The item came up at one of our recent (NEC) meetings," he said. "We
had discussed it and indicated they would only be appropriate in a
commercial setting."

Orangeville council decided to seek a legal opinion in regards to
attempting to regulate legal medical marijuana grow-ops.

Mono council received a letter from the Town of Caledon on Tuesday
(Jan. 28) seeking comments on their recent decision to set a town-wide
zoning bylaw amendment to address matters pertaining to the location
of new licensed medical marijuana production facilities.

When the topic bred discussion, Mono council showed little support in
the notion of allowing facilities on their turf.

"I really don't think we should," Coun. Bob Mitchell
said.

Even if either municipality desired a piece of the new industry, they
would have to apply for a Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) amendment.

"A medical marijuana facility is not a permitted use in Escarpment
Natural, Escarpment Protection, Escarpment Rural, Minor Urban Centre,
Escarpment Recreation, or Mineral Resource Extraction Areas of the
(NEP), as it does not meet the definition of an agricultural use,
specialty crop or institutional use," NEC Commission Secretary
Annemarie Bochenek said in an email to The Banner.

Furthermore, because medical marijuana needs an indoor facility to
grow rather than a green house, the NEC felt the rural areas of the
escarpment are vulnerable without an industrial setting.

"Because of the need for security, and because they're not like a
normal green house operation, they would need to be in a position
where the was commercial business," McGhee said.

"We would not be looking at any place in Mono."
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MAP posted-by: Matt