Seven Cannabis Shops Setting Up in Kitchener’s Downtown Has Council Concerned

Article by Phi Doan, Kitchener Today

There’s big money to be made in pot, but the influx of applications for locations in Kitchener’s downtown core has council concerned about oversaturation.

A motion was passed during Monday’s virtual council meeting to send a letter to the province, calling on them to step in and adjust regulations.

Ward 10 Councillor Sarah Marsh presented the motion, which would not only called for “over-concentration” to be considered a part of the evaluation criteria, but also called for a 500m distance separation between locations. It would also asked that comments by municipalities to be given additional weight in the matter.

At this time, there are only two pot cannabis shops open in Kitchener (one in the downtown core, and the other on Fairway Road). According to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario interactive map, there are another five applications being considered in the downtown. All in walking distance of each other.

However, Mayor Berry Vrbanovic mentioned during the meeting that there were at least seven applications.

“Six of them have reach the stage of approval where essentially it can’t be reversed, but the seventh one may be influenced by either our interventions today or previous discussions, and those of other councils,” he said.

Read the full article here.