A quest to establish a small-scale cannabis growing operation in Salmon Valley has won approval from the Fraser-Fort George Regional District.
Directors voted unanimously Thursday in favour of adopting a zoning amendment to house a micro-cannabis growing and production facility on a site of up to one hectare on a roughly 16-hectare property at 27000 Hart Highway.
Because the FFGRD's zoning bylaw does not allow operations on rural properties smaller than 259 hectares, an amendment was needed. However, it was also noted that an amendment to the official community plan was not needed because the property's zoning supports agricultural use, including cultivating and harvesting cannabis.
A public hearing on the matter, held in October, drew just three members of the public and lasted just six minutes. During the meeting, applicant Ariane Gollub agreed to work with the Salmon Valley Volunteer Fire Department to develop a pre-incident plan once the operation is up and running.
The operation will be subject to setbacks of not closer than 60 metres from the rear or side lot lines and not closer than 30 metres from the front lot line.
