A staff report regarding best practices with agricultural and industrial cannabis grow-ops within Tiny Township recommends a proactive initiative when it comes to odour concerns.

Last year, staff were directed to draft official plan and zoning bylaw amendments for a land-use policy and regulation framework for cannabis to bring back to council.

In presenting the follow-up report at a recent committee of the whole meeting, planning and development director Shawn Persaud explained that staff looked at township-initiated amendment definitions based on best practices regarding various factors, including the minimum distance to deal with lighting, traffic and odour from production facilities depending on their size and scale.

“One of the biggest concerns that we’ve done a lot of research on is with regards to odours specifically,” said Persaud, “and there’s not a lot of guidance material from either the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks which deals with a lot of the industrial side of odour, or from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with regards to odour.

“What we’re proposing to do is take a more conservative approach with regards to cannabis cultivation, which is to put some high level of official plan policies in place,” Persaud offered.

“With regards to outdoor growing, this would also ensure that any outdoor growing facility, either in a field or in a greenhouse, would require a rezoning application. And it would allow us to review each application as it comes in based on the size and scale of what they’re proposing.”

Persaud added that if a cannabis grow-up is established for indoor production, the rezoning application process would allow staff to deal with odour issues through additional studies depending on proximity to sensitive land uses like settlement areas and neighbouring properties. Furthermore, rezoning applications are typical for most municipalities requiring agricultural and industrial applications.

The official plan amendment policy framework proposed that a cannabis production facility, along with other factors, ‘may’ be subject to site plan control.

Coun. Cindy Hastings asked Persaud why it was a consideration and not a guarantee.

“With regards to the outdoor growing or in a greenhouse on agricultural lands,” replied Persaud, “we put in the ‘may’ simply because depending on the scale of what’s being proposed, we may be able to deal with regulations just through the zoning amendment, through specific setbacks or specific provisions in the bylaw; we may not need site plan (control).

“But with regards to the industrial side, it’s a ‘shall’ because it’s more of that intensive use which would be in a building.”

Council passed the recommendation directing staff to schedule an upcoming public meeting to address the proposed official plan and zoning bylaw amendments within the report.

The cannabis cultivation and processing report can be viewed within the agenda page located on the Tiny Township website.

Archives of council meetings are available to view on Tiny township’s YouTube channel.