Too Much of a Good Thing? Torontonians Concerned About ‘Clusters’ of Cannabis Stores

Article by David Yasvinski, Growth Op

A group of dispensary owners hoping to set up shop in the same one-block area has provoked some Torontonians to ask the Alcohol and Gaming Commission to look more closely at the proximity rules governing the city’s cannabis retailers.

The formal motion was brought by Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher amid concerns by some residents about the number of pot shops setting their sights on the Queen Street East area, according to the Beach Metro.

“In the past few months a noticeable cluster of cannabis shop applications have been made on Queen Street in the Riverside Neighbourhood of Toronto-Danforth,” Fletcher said. “The provincial regulations are far more permissive than the originally proposed municipal rules, which would have prevented some of the clustering issues.”

The motion, which was adopted by the city, calls on the AGCO to more closely monitor the concentration of stores in any high-density area of the city and to consider the proximity of parks and any community services in the area that involve children or vulnerable adults.

Fletcher’s motion was, in part, a response to a letter she received from the Ralph Thornton Community Centre that questioned the wisdom of an over-abundance of any type of retail store, according to the Beach Metro. “While we are not concerned about marijuana dispenseries per se, the notion of having this many shops in close proximity to each other will inevitably lead to the failure of some or all of these shops,” said management board chair Alan Lennon said in his letter to Fletcher. “A concentration of one kind of retail simply means that there will well be a lack of other kinds of retail options in the neighbourhood.

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