The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George is taking another whiff of public input into its zoning requirements for medical marijuana facilities.
On Thursday, the board of directors will hold another public hearing on its plan to restrict federally licenced grow ops to agricultural areas beginning at 1:30 in the regional district's George Street boardroom.
Last month, a bylaw stipulating a minimum of 16 hectares (40 acres) on land zoned as Rural or M5 Agriculture Industry was put up for public hearing and board debate.
But directors voted to change that to an even larger requirement - 259 hectares, or 640 acres - and send it back to public hearing in a bid to stall for time while they figured out a different course of action.
"Ultimately, most proposed sites will likely require to be re-zoned to accommodate new facilities," said a staff report from development services manager Terry McEachen.
The proposed bylaw also includes rear and side setbacks of 60 metres and front setbacks of 30 metres.
During the mid-February hearing, some residents expressed concern over the size requirements, saying it would put a damper on small businesses.
Under the federal government's new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulation effective April 1, production facilities licensed by Health Canada would be allowed in the same areas as other intensive agricultural uses and kept out of areas zoned as residential.
The federal regulations restrict facilities from being inside a residential dwelling and limit production, packaging and labeling to being done indoors at the producer's site. Cannabis can only be stored indoors on site and can only be destroyed by legislated methods that don't result in anyone being exposed to smoke. The site's perimeter must be secured against intruders with physical barriers monitored by visual recording devices.
The Agricultural Land Commission has said medical marijuana production qualifies as a farm use.
Regional district staff also put together a summary of how other B.C. local governments have handled the same issue.
"Municipalities are generally directing the use to industrial areas and will likely require rezoning consideration," said the report.
