麻豆精选 council looks to remedy downtown pot shop 鈥榙eficit鈥�

Council-approved pot shops that have never opened are creating roadblocks for new cannabis stores in downtown 麻豆精选.

Even though there are currently no operating pot shops in 麻豆精选鈥檚 downtown core, city staff recommended councillors not support applications for two new Bernard Avenue stores that hit their desks on Monday (June 28) due to their proximity to local parks and other approved locations.

But those shops have yet to open, despite getting the city鈥檚 go-ahead two years ago.

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Hemp City owner Lee Schurian is looking to begin selling weed out of his already-operational head shop and Krista Lusted is hoping to open a new shop, the Green Pineapple, just down the street in what is currently a Telus location.

Council gave the green light to both rezoning applications, sending them to public hearings.

鈥淗aving none open downtown is a deficit we didn鈥檛 plan on,鈥� said Coun. Ryan Donn, adding he鈥檚 curious to hear the public鈥檚 input.

While the other two approved locations aren鈥檛 open and storefronts have changed hands since their approval, they still might end up opening at some point.

鈥淚鈥檓 not convinced that the market will entirely support all of them, but that鈥檚 not for me to decide,鈥� said Mayor Colin Basran.

鈥淚鈥檓 open to a free market; let the best store win.鈥�

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com

@michaelrdrguez
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