On April 1, 2020, the City of Windsor received a request for written submissions regarding an Application for a Cannabis Retail Store Authorization at 1800 Huron Church Road, Unit B from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Submissions are provided to the Applicant for response and considered by the Registrar in the authorization decision.

Under the provisions of the Cannabis License Act, 2018, municipalities have 15 days to deliver written submissions. Administration has gathered comments seeks direction from Council regarding this submission.

Discussion:

The Draft Municipal Cannabis Policy Statement provides guidelines to staff when commenting on requests for written submissions from the AGCO on specific cannabis retail sites. Sites should be opposed where a site is within:

•  150m of another cannabis retail store;
•  proximity to identified publicly owned/operated facility (schools, recreation facilities, community centres, libraries, play grounds, parks);
•  150m of an addiction treatment centre; and
•  an area where retail operations are not listed as a permitted use under the City's Zoning By-laws.

The policy also calls for consideration of other applicable laws, including the Planning Act, 1998 and Building Code Act, 1992.

To deliver comments, the following municipal departments and local government agencies were consulted:

Windsor Police Service

Comments from the Windsor Police Service are included in Appendix A, Public Safety Impact Assessment, 1800 Huron Church Road, Unit B, Windsor Police Service.

Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

Comments from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit are included in Appendix B, Public Health Assessment, 1800 Huron Church Road, Unit B, Windsor Essex County Health Unit.

City of Windsor

Department of Community Development and Health

Due to pandemic demands, this department is unable to return comments at this time.