Despite pushback from residents of the University Endowment Lands (UEL), BC’s former Minister of Municipal Affairs Josie Osborne announced she would support the rezoning application for a cannabis store in University Village.
Late last summer, two cannabis dispensaries submitted applications to open stores within the UEL. While most students remained indifferent or interested in these applications, members of the UEL expressed opposition, with one member garnering 1,500 signatures in a petition against the stores.
Now just one application, from Burb Cannabis, remains. According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, “the UEL Area D Plan only allows for one cannabis retail store,” resulting in the voluntary withdrawal of the second applicant during the first stages of the rezoning process.
Osborne’s announcement is the first step in this process to get a cannabis store on campus — the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors will still have to approve the application.
In recent emails to residents, Metro Vancouver Director for Electoral Area A Jen McCutcheon acknowledged that this decision by the Minister will likely be a “disappointment” to many residents.
“My role as your Electoral Area Director is to advocate for, and make decisions based on what is best for our area, and in this case, for what UEL residents and businesses believe is best for their community. I will do my best to represent you well on this issue,” McCutcheon wrote.
Residents will still have a chance to bring forward their complaints and concerns to the Electoral A Committee, which has meetings in April, June and October. McCutcheon said she would update residents on which meeting this issue will be discussed.
In her letter, she noted that public consultation was a vital part of the decision-making process, including petitions.
“For my part, I can assure residents that I will be carefully reading all the feedback and supporting documentation and at both the MVRD Committee and Board level, I will represent UEL residents to the best of my ability, taking into account all the feedback received from the community," she said in a newsletter.
Last month, MLA David Eby sent a letter to UEL community members addressing the “widespread community opposition” of cannabis retailers. In the letter, he stated the importance of Minister Osborne’s approval before undergoing an extensive evaluation process. He assured residents that their concerns were carefully considered into the decision making process.
“Residents are opposed to losing a valuable community storefront that would arguably overserve the UBC market in a growing community when other retail uses are preferred and needed,” he said in the letter.
Osborne was just appointed to be the Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship in a cabinet shuffle on Friday. MLA Nathan Cullen was appointed the new Minister of Municipal Affairs. It’s unclear how the shift will impact this issue.