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31 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,D ecem ber 27,2018 insidehalton.com ON NOW AT THE BRICK! SAVING YOU MORE For more details go instore or online @thebrick.com. Residents interested in weighing in on whether the Town of Oakville should permit cannabis retail stores to set up shop can do so on Monday, Jan. 14. The provincial govern- ment is giving municipali- ties a one-time option to opt out of having cannabis re- tail stores in their commu- nities. The deadline to notify the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) of a council resolution to opt out is Jan. 22. The province has an- nounced private stores re- tailing cannabis will be able to open by April. Council decided to schedule the vote and seek input from the public dur- ing the Monday, Dec. 17 council meeting. While the matter will not be decided until Jan. 14, it is clear which way the wind is blowing. On Aug. 16 Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said that if re-elected, he would vote for Premier Doug Ford's opt-out option. Ward 2 Coun. Ray Chis- holm, Ward 4 councillors Peter Longo and Allan El- gar, Ward 5 Coun. Jeff Knoll and Ward 6 council- lors Natalia Lishchyna (ac- claimed) and Tom Adams (acclaimed) joined Burton in this position. On that day Ward 2 Coun. Cathy Duddeck (ac- claimed) said she is leaning toward an opt-out vote. Ward 5 Coun. Marc Grant and Ward 1 Coun. Sean O'Meara said they were undecided at that time. During the Dec. 17 meet- ing O'Meara asked town staff about what powers the municipality would have to locate a cannabis retail store if it was permit- ted. He was told municipali- ties do not have the author- ity to pick locations for these stores. It was also pointed out there is nothing in the can- nabis legislation that states a cannabis retail store has to be in a com- mercial area. That said, the AGCO has noted the operation of a cannabis store is consid- ered a retail land use. Town staff said a munic- ipality is only able to pro- vide comment to the AGCO on locational requirements of cannabis retail stores, solely as input to the AGCO approval process. Regulations for retail cannabis store locations do include a 150-metre separa- tion distance between these stores and schools. Sales at these stores would be restricted to adults 19 years and older, and stores can only be open between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. O'Meara also asked about the financial impli- cations of opting in. The province has com- mitted to providing $40 mil- lion to municipalities over two years to help with the implementation costs of recreational cannabis le- galization. For this purpose, Oak- ville will receive a payment of approximately $90,000 from the province in early January. This amount is Oak- ville's share of a $15-million payment the province is making to all municipali- ties on a per-household ba- sis. A second payment will follow the Jan. 22 deadline for municipalities to opt out. Town staff said if Oak- ville opts out, it will get around $5,000. If the town does not opt out it will get an additional $90,000 from the province. Ward 7 town Coun. Jas- vinder Sandhu asked if it was possible for the munic- ipality to add any kind of tax to cannabis retailers, but was told this could not be done. Grant voiced concerns about the fluidity of the changes to cannabis legis- lation. "It seems there is some- thing new from the prov- ince every other week," he NEWS TOWN OF OAKVILLE TO CONSIDER OPTING OUT OF CANNABIS RETAIL STORES JAN. 14 Town of Oakville to consider opt out option for cannabis retail stores Jan. 14. Mike Barrett/Metroland DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com See THREE, page 35