Once burned by a “bong” mascot, Esquimalt council plans to be firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to cannabis retailers

Esquimalt councillors have approved a new zoning bylaw that prohibits the retail sale of cannabis and cannabis lounges in any location in the township unless specifically rezoned to allow such use.

This effectively means that any cannabis dispensary wanting to locate in the township will have to go through a rezoning process.

“In my mind it helps us to, one, be very careful and controlled in terms what comes to us and where it will be situated,” said Mayor Barb Desjardins. “But also, in a rezoning you can talk to them about what are they going to provide for the community.

“This is a ‘nobody loses’ situation.”

That’s a far cry from five years ago, when Esquimalt’s efforts to both keep a lid on the sale of drug paraphernalia and to stop one retailer’s use of a “bong” mascot garnered national and international media attention.

The municipality found itself skewered by American late-night television satirist Stephen Colbert. In the segment of the Comedy Central program The Colbert Report, Colbert praised the efforts of a couple of Esquimalt councillors for trying to get rid of the Bong Warehouse’s mascot, Bongy, and their attempts to stamp out the sale of drug paraphernalia.

Desjardins said the experience was Esquimalt’s “own little learning curve,” noting “it’s much harder to get rid of something when they’re already in than it is to set the ground rules at the beginning.”

Esquimalt has no plans to consider any cannabis rezoning applications until new federal regulations kick in, Desjardins said.

“We made that stand right at the beginning: Until it’s legal, it’s illegal,” she said.

Esquimalt’s bylaw will allow individuals to grow up to four plants — a provision expected to be allowed under federal regulations.

But it prohibits “the growing or production of marijuana, cannabis and similar plants, products or use” except as a farm use on Agricultural Land Reserve lands, on land specifically rezoned to permit a Health Canada licensed medical marijuana facility or under the authority of one or more designated producer licences issued by Health Canada.

A staff report notes that local governments cannot prohibit the growing of marijuana as a farm use on ALR lands. Esquimalt has only one ALR parcel — the Gorge Vale Golf Course.

“Although the township can not prohibit the growing of marijuana on the golf course lands, it can regulate the location of any buildings associated with the growing of marijuana on the ALR,” the report says.

“To this end, the bylaw requires that the production of marijuana must occur within a building and the minimum setbacks for the building would be 25 metres from all property lines and 150 metres from schools, daycares, parks, playgrounds, clubhouses, convenience stores, or other public places frequented mainly by persons under 18 years of age.”

Victoria is the only local municipality that has been regulating cannabis dispensaries in advance of federal or provincial regulations.

Since Victoria began its process to rezone and license cannabis retailers, it has received 42 cannabis storefront land use applications. Of those, 13 have been declined, five cancelled and eight are in process.

Currently, seven cannabis retailers are subject to enforcement because they either haven’t applied for licensing or have been declined. One consumption lounge has been closed and one is subject to enforcement.