Pot retail moves closer

Photo: The Canadian Press

Five potential cannabis retailers in West Kelowna have moved one step closer to reality.

City council Tuesday gave first and second reading to zoning amendments for all five proposed locations.

The public will now get a chance to weigh in at an upcoming public hearing before council considers moving them ahead for adoption.

"I think it's a good to take it to a public hearing," said Coun. Doug Findlater.

"We've had a bit of correspondence pro and con. It means there are people that want to comment on this."

Findlater says a recent standing room only crowd for a similar public hearing at Big White makes him think there will be a lot of interest in the five applications.

The only concern raised through Tuesday's discussion surrounded the look of each proposed storefront.

Coun. Rick deJong told council he was surprised there was no indication as to what the five storefronts would look like before voting on first and second reading.

"There's not a lot of information beyond showing us where the property lies," said deJong.

"I was expecting a lot more depth of what these would be looking like."

Staff indicated some of those details would be provided to council and the public when the applications come up at a public hearing.

Of the five approved applicants, three are proposed for the Boucherie area, and two downtown.

If approved, the proposed applicants would still need provincial licensing.

To date, 483 applications have been received by the province. Only 18 have been licensed. None are in the Okanagan.