Stirling could update Land-use Bylaw for cannabis legalization

WWN FILE PHOTO

Jeremy Appel
Westwind Weekly News

Prior to the 2017 election, Stirling village council made numerous updates to its Land-use Bylaw, but with the looming nation-wide legalization of marijuana, they may have another look at it.
Mayor Trevor Lewington says the goal of another update is to ensure the village’s bylaw conforms to the provincial regulations and to establish the municipality’s own standards.
“It’s unlikely in Stirling, because provisions in the provincial standard is that you have to be more than 100 metres away from a school,” Lewington said.
“All of our commercial districts fall within that guideline, so the provincial law would supersede in this case.”
But the purpose of updating the Land-use Bylaw is in case future development allows provides room for cannabis stores, the municipality has the correct zoning in place.
“It was more just to educate us on what the requirements are and we’ll need to have further conversations going forward on if there’s any restrictions that need to be put in place, or if there’s any restrictions that are Stirling-specific,” said the mayor.

Council supports St. Mary River Irrigation District water sharing plan

Council also appointed one of its own represent the village for the St. Mary River Irrigation District water sharing plan.
“Last summer, it was pretty dry and reservoir levels were … lower than they’d normally be,” explained Lewington.
“The irrigation districts got together to see what water sharing would look like if there was a shortage. Rather than waiting until something happens in the future, they proactively wanted to talk about the allocation of water and water rights.”
He provided the example of the U.S., where water rights are provided based on which communities applied for them first, which means some municipalities have more access to water than others.
The SMRID wants to create a shared policy in the event that there’s a water shortage in the coming years.
“This is just starting the conversation,” said Lewington. “Now that the snow pack’s pretty decent … it’s not going to be an issue this year, but they’re still moving forward because at some point it could happen again.”
Deputy Mayor Kevin Nelson, who sits on the Ridge Water Services Commission, will represent Stirling for the water sharing plan.