Pubdate: Thu, 01 May 2014 Source: Almaguin News (CN ON) Copyright: Almaguin News 2014 Contact: http://www.northbaynipissing.com/almaguinhighlands-on/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3732 Page: 16 Author: Roland Cilliers HANDS TIED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITY MAGNETAWAN - Property owners spoke out against the medical marijuana facility on Horn Lake last week but it didn't appear to change council's position. Jim Dyment, Magnetawan's planning consultant, spoke at a special meeting on April 23 explaining zoning bylaws and whether Magnetawan has authority over the grow operation. "Once we write a bylaw to say what's permitted, it's absolutely permitted," Dyment said. "Zoning bylaws are written in black and white. So if it says you can do something, you can do it. The council can't do anything about it." More than 50 seasonal and permanent residents attended the meeting, discussing the proposed medical marijuana grow operation by Craig Ferchat, president of Harena Maris Health Products Inc. The Horn Lake Property Owners Association presented a letter from lawyer Ian Rowe of Barriston Law in Barrie. Marilyn Pollitt, secretary-treasurer of the Horn Lake association, read the letter. "It is my advice to my client and my submission to Council that it would be premature to permit the establishment of the Grow Operation until the Township has had an opportunity to review the potential impacts of Grow Operations and establish appropriate provisions for location and performance standards for such Grow Operations," the letter began. "The Association is not against Medical Marijuana or the ambitions of Mr. Ferchat to expand his business into Medical Marijuana Production, however the Association is currently opposed to the location of this product near Horn Lake." The concerns outlined in the letter focus largely on the environmental landscape of Horn Lake, including the concern waste water from the operation filtering into the lake, the risk of fire (which Rowe writes is above normal), and odours from producing and drying the product. Other qualms from the property owners include inconclusive evidence of economic benefits, the criminal element an operation like this may attract, and possible reduction of property values. "The facility could be located anywhere and the proposed operator is simply taking advantage of provisions in the bylaw to promote farming which were never intended to permit the establishment of a Grow Operation," reads the letter. "These impacts need to be studied to determine how compatible the Grow Operation in this location would be with sensitive surrounding land uses and generally in the community." But Ferchat's application is already underway to Health Canada. He spoke at the meeting, giving an update on its status. "The only steps we have left are criminal record checks for our three key personnel and final inspection of the building," he said. "A lot has happened [since the last meeting] but I want you to understand there's a lot of things that can't be changed at this point." The property in question on Horn Lake is zoned as rural for the permitted use of agriculture, which Dyment says in his opinion includes marijuana crops. "The reality is if the applicant came to the municipality for a building permit to allow him to grow cucumbers, or flowers, or mushrooms, or even Boston lettuce - all of which I've ever seen is grown hydroponically these days - we wouldn't be in here," Dyment said. "The fact that marijuana is a drug is in my view independent from what is in the zoning bylaw." "I would just like to say that I suspect the cucumber, carrot and lettuce farming did not require a security fence, nor did it require permission for overnight surveillance, nor did it require notification to the OPP," said one Horn Lake resident. "While I appreciate the arguments that are made that this is not an agricultural use, I think there are an equal number of arguments that can be made that this is an agricultural use," Dyment said. "And I think what people do struggle with is the plot." The recommendation from Rowe for council to intervene in this process is to enact an interim control bylaw. However, Dyment says that while he isn't a lawyer, his opinion is that it likely wouldn't resolve the issue. He said at the meeting that while council could pass an interim control bylaw, it could then be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, where the municipality would have to defend its decision. Often, Dyment said, one of the issues is whether an interim control bylaw is prejudicial (meaning aimed at one property), and if the municipality used extraordinary measures to freeze land use. Magnetawan Mayor Sam Dunnett added that it's a fine line to walk when the medical marijuana facility's application is already underway. Resident questions and comments came for more than an hour from residents, directed to Dyment and Ferchat. Ferchat addressed some of the concerns regarding water waste disposal and zoning. "In terms of water quality and some of the other issues that have been raised, there are things that we can and we are willing to look at to ensure that our waste water meets not just the minimum standards, but our standards," said Ferchat. "We live on the lake. We have a healthy plot of property on the lake. I want my kids and my grandkids to swim in that lake." "We are not allowed to process our product," Ferchat said. "We're prohibited by law for processing our product. ... It's very much if you pick an apple off a tree, put it in a basket and sell it. That's all I'm allowed to do. If I do anything different, they're going to shut me down. There's no processing, we're not even allowed to do testing on site. We have to send it out. "To say it's farming, I appreciate you don't like the crop at all, but that's what we do." "Mr. Ferchat, yourself, personally, how do you feel going ahead with this project when so many of your neighbors are here speaking against it?" asked one resident. "Frankly, I don't have a problem going ahead with the project," Ferchat responded. "What we have to get away from is the feeling that this is Cheech and Chong recreational marijuana. This is not. There are tens of thousands of people using this product on a medical basis. The alternative is not marijuana or no marijuana. The choices are legal marijuana or illegal marijuana. Those are your two choices." Another issue raised was transparency. "It's a private business and we run it as such," said Ferchat. "To be honest with you, we've been particularly transparent coming and answering questions, much more so than really we're required to. We try to be open with everything. We've answered every email that's come to us. And I think we've provided a lot of information. At the last meeting we described in great detail the processes and what we do." Ferchat added that he's tried to get in contact with the Horn Lake property owners specifically. "There was an announcement posted on the Horn Lake website saying that an ad hoc committee was going to be put together to discuss our proposal and we volunteered to be part of that committee and our email wasn't returned," he said. "So if the intention was to get information from us, we volunteered to be there and participate." Dunnett closed the Horn Lake portion of the meeting after an hour and a half of discussion. "I think council has been very fair. This is the third meeting we've had over this proposal on Horn Lake," he said. "I could see if we had the authority, if the jurisdiction was here, then we would have more than three meetings, you can be assured of that, but we're not. And we are in compliance. We're as curious on some of this stuff as you are, but we don't have the authority to change it." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom