Oro-Medonte rolls with new direction given on cannabis production

Locked in a multi-year battle that has cost the municipality more than $800,000 in legal fees, Oro-Medonte Township can now close the book on how to deal with Medical Saints’ cannabis operation on the outskirts of Shanty Bay.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, township council passed a bylaw that spells out what’s allowed, based on the Ontario Land Tribunal decision, issued on July 17, and Ontario Land Tribunal order, issued on July 19.

“I want to thank staff, the public and my colleagues for undertaking these negotiations and coming to a negotiated settlement and avoiding another costly litigation in court before the Ontario Land Tribunal, where, we’ve noticed from time to time, that the results are not necessarily predictable,” Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie told council.

“In any case, I think we’ve come to a very good agreement that provides as much protection as possible for the residents and may not have otherwise resulted in as much protections as this current agreement reaches," he added. 

“Nobody got exactly what they wanted, but we came to an amicable solution, which is, I truly believe, sustainable as well,” said Mayor Randy Greenlaw.

Conditions defined in the new bylaw include:

• one single detached dwelling is permitted;
• the outdoor and indoor growing and production of cannabis are permitted, including processing activities related to harvesting, sorting, trimming, drying and storing; 
• a cannabis production and processing facility is permitted; 
• On-site retail packaging and retail sale of cannabis are prohibited;
• A new building containing a maximum of 9,290 square metres (100,000 square feet) of floor area devoted to the indoor growing of cannabis plants restricted to a non-flowering state of vegetation only. (The landowner would have to apply for and obtain site-plan approval, enter into a development agreement, provide any securities required and address a variety of issues including stormwater management, and the mitigation of odour, light and noise impacts to the satisfaction of the township, in consultation with the landowner.)
• West setback (Line 2) — a line parallel to Line 2 that is either 172 metres east of the Line 2 road allowance or 130 metres east from the existing easternmost main residential house, whichever is closer to Line 2.
• South setback — a line parallel to the rail trail that is 150 metres north of the rail-trail property line. 
• East setback (Line 3) — 12 metres from the Line 3 road allowance, unless otherwise specified. 

BarrieToday reached out to Medical Saints for comment, but the company did not respond.

“This is the final step in the implementation of the settlement that was achieved for Medical Saints' property related to the cannabis bylaw,” said Brent Spagnol, the township's director of development services.

“This process is administrative and it does not have any bearing on the content or spirit of the settlement or the parameters of the zoning bylaw that was approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal," he added.