Dankr.ca – Your Toronto Connection
Article by Taylor Campbell, Windsor Star
Four months after the City of Windsor opposed the region’s first retail cannabis store application, city councilors on Tuesday unanimously supported the second shop to file for provincial approval.
Following a nearly 90-minute in-camera session, councillors voted without public deliberation to submit positive feedback to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regarding ShinyBud Cannabis Co.’s application to open a store across from Tecumseh Mall.
“It’s an interesting step moving forward throughout the city,” said Coun. Gary Kaschak following the special council meeting. His ward, Ward 8, includes the ShinyBud location at 7833 Tecumseh Rd. E. “I feel that it checks most of the boxes that we’re looking for as far as building-wise, parking setbacks, (being) away from schools, addiction centres and whatnot. I think it’s a good step forward and obviously my council colleagues feel the same with the way the vote went.”
The business sits between a McDonald’s and a gas station just west of Lauzon Road. The administrative report on its location made no recommendation to guide council. The report states ShinyBud does follow the guidelines set out in the city’s cannabis policy, including a distance of 150 metres or more from any addiction treatment centre, and from any publicly owned and operated facilities like schools, recreation centres, and parks. An assessment from the Windsor Police Service states loitering and traffic congestion are possible problems the shop location poses.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit in its own report takes issues with the cannabis business’s proximity of less than 500 metres to other stores selling cigarettes and alcohol. The shop is also close to a residential area that “represents a population in our community who is inequitably vulnerable to the effects of substance use and harms,” the health unit states.
