Hemp City asks City of Kelowna to waive pot shop buffer zone

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A Kelowna hemp shop owner is asking the city to disregard its 500-metre rule for pot shops so that his business can become a licensed and regulated retail cannabis store.

Hemp City owner Lee Schurian submitted a proposal to the City of Kelowna late last month, asking it to allow his business to become a cannabis store—despite being just 63 metres from a pot shop that has already been approved but has yet to open.

The city does not allow cannabis stores to be within 500 metres of one another, although it has already made an exception with two downtown licences.

“Our community is familiar with 526 Bernard (Avenue) as serving customers who seek cannabis accessories, so it stands that by extension the location would serve as a logical establishment for cannabis retail sales,” Schurian wrote in a letter.

“I also own this building and would not be flipping the licence for profit as all the others are doing. This is my business for over 15 years and only a natural progression for it to serve my loyal customer base and the downtown core.”

Schurian argues that three cannabis licences were issued for the downtown core two years ago but the stores have yet to open.

“We feel our customers and the downtown residents have a right to access safe and legal cannabis in the downtown core,” Schurian wrote. “If the other stores finally do open, we don’t feel there would be a conflict as there are more people and many sky-rises popping up all around us and downtown is only getting busier by the day.

“Having a few stores in the area would only create better service and prices.”

Schurian added that his family has a long history of developing businesses in the Kelowna area and that he has a petition featuring more than 1,500 signatures of support for his endeavour.