Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George is going to have  to make some changes to the Medical Marijuana Production facility bylaw it approved  just a  couple of months ago.  Ministry of Agriculture in B.C. has developed a  bylaw standard  for  such facilities in the Agricultural Land Reserve and  their rules don’t match the City’s plan.

The Bylaw Standard  developed by the Ministry sets the limits to which local governments  can restrict the production of medical marijuana within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

The  new standard means the City of Prince George will have to put its  bylaw under  review, “We will be reviewing the new standard and will make the necessary  changes” says  Director of Planning, Ian Wells.   “It will require some text amendments so we will have to  go through the  full process again.”  That means a public notice, public hearing and four readings before the changes  take effect.

At issue are some of the setback requirements.

The Ministry’s new Bylaw Standard and the  bylaw recently  adopted by the City of Prince George agree on the setback requirement.  The Ministry says it should be  between 15 to 30 metres, and the City’s bylaw calls for a setback of  30 meters within the property line .

The  Ministry’s Bylaw Standard  says “there should not be a minimum lot size requirement for medical marijuana production facilities”  but the City of Prince George’s bylaw  has  set the   minimum  parcel size  at 15 hectares.

Then there is  a significant difference between what the Ministry  sets as the set back from the Medical Marijuana production facility and its neighbours.  The Ministry says  the minimum set back  from any a neighbouring residential  use ” should be no more than 30 metres,  if a buffer is used,  and no more than 60 if  a buffer ( spacing, vegetation and fencing) is used”.  The  City’s  bylaw calls for a  1 kilometre  spread between  a residential property and the Medical Marijuana  production facility’s lot line.

The City also has a provision that the  there be a  “minimum setback distance of 1km or greater from the downtown boundary”, as well as 1 km away from the  Prince George Regional Correctional Centre and the Youth Correction Facility.

The Ministry also  sets out the minimum setback  from any neighbouring park or school be  “no more than 150 metres”.

The Ministry says it will be working with local government’s to ensure  bylaws  are consistent  with its standard by the fall of this year.