It's strange to try to prevent a plant from being grown on farmland, but I think our civic politicians were on to something.
Those over at municipal hall were informed recently by provincial Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick that their bylaw prohibiting medical marijuana from being grown on farmland had been quashed. It was reasoned by both the Agricultural Land Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture that the production of medical marijuana is consistent with the definition of farm use in provincial legislation.
It's hard to argue with that logic because when you boil it down, what we're talking about is growing a plant that can be harvested for commercial consumption. But - and this is a pretty significant but - it must be noted this isn't any old plant. We're not talking about blueberries or potatoes or any of the other crops that dot Delta's landscape.
This commodity comes with its own unique set of circumstances that makes it unlike any other, which in turn makes applying the basic definition of
agriculture problematic. It's why there are strict federal regulations, particularly with regards to security, and why Delta prefers to see medical marijuana operations located in industrial areas.
Municipal leaders didn't see it as a fit for farmland and they weren't alone as several other jurisdictions in the province also sought to ban the growing of medical marijuana in agricultural areas. Victoria clearly wasn't on the same page, so now we've got the prospect of these operations setting up shop on agricultural land.
Obviously the crop can't be grown out in the open like all the others, so I suspect, should any such operation set up shop here, it would resemble some sort of cross between a warehouse and a greenhouse fortified, of course, by a state-of-the-art security system.
I guess you could make the argument that such an operation wouldn't be all that different from a greenhouse footprintwise, but the one obvious exception is there isn't a flourishing black market, at least that I know of, for bell peppers or grape tomatoes.
There's no denying the actual growing of the plant is an agricultural activity, but the end product is so much beyond the norm that it screams out for more, which was obviously the rationale behind Delta's efforts to
regulate the industry.
Make no mistake, there are stringent regulations in place; it's just that preventing it from being grown on farmland isn't one of them.
PLANS SHOULD PROVIDE SOME CERTAINTY It's become commonplace these days to suggest the land use plans that have been created for our communities are "living documents" that are subject to change. We're continually reminded, primarily by developers and politicians, that these plans are not cast in stone and can be modified to suit changing sensibilities.
I understand the rationale and it makes sense to build in some wiggle room to accommodate whatever the future may hold, but the whole idea of these documents - both Delta's Official Community Plan and the area plans for each of the three communities - is to provide residents with certainty when it comes to land use in their neighbourhoods.
It would be a colossal waste of resources if all we're going to do is modify it every time a non-conforming project comes along. Yet more and more development applications are coming forward these days seeking those very amendments. The projects aren't in keeping
with what the public has envisioned but that doesn't stop developers from giving it a go.
I'll admit that sometimes an amendment can make sense and might actually improve upon a plan, but more often than not it seems like a case of the developer pushing the envelope in the hopes of maximizing profits.
When a proposal comes forward that doesn't mesh with the plans set out for the area, you'd think it wouldn't get beyond the first desk it hits at municipal hall.
I find the whole situation a bit like making vacation plans: either you book and pay for a hotel room or you wing it and see what you can get when you arrive, but you don't do both. It doesn't make sense to spend money on one hotel room only to stay at a place across the street. That doesn't strike me to be good planning.
Ted Murphy is editor of Delta Optimist, a sister paper to the Now.