A pair of proposed pot shops will progress to a public probing next month, potentially paving the way for the premiere of permitted pot in Burnaby.
By the time of the public hearing, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, it will have been more than two years and 10 months since cannabis was legalized in Canada, with no stores opened in the city since. Both of the shops would be owned and operated by the B.C. government.
The stores were approved for public hearing on Monday, and if approved, they could be the first government-run pot shops in the Metro Vancouver region, as most other cities are populating with private stores.
One store is proposed for the Kings Crossing development in Edmonds, while the other would go in the Old Orchard Shopping Centre in the Metrotown area.
Burnaby’s current regulations allow one government pot shop in each of the four town centres. If approved, these two proposals would serve the two southern town centres, Metrotown and Edmonds, while the two northern centres, Brentwood and Lougheed, continue to wait.
According to a report presented to city council in June, there are 16 government pot shops and 228 private stores in the province, with no government stores and 34 private shops in Metro Vancouver.
Last month, city council approved two new commercial zones that would allow government-run pot shops, with nowhere yet open to private stores.
That being said, Mayor Mike Hurley told the NOW last month the city is open to hearing from interested private store operators.
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