As the target date for the federal government’s legalization and regulation of cannabis approaches, the City of Castlegar is taking steps to begin its internal process so that regulations, laws and bylaws can be in place by July.
The province of British Columbia intends to be the sole distributor of recreational marijuana through the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.
Council documents state that: “What’s unclear is whether private sales will be exclusively through pharmacies or liquor stores or through speciality cannabis stores only, or through some combination of the three.”
A decision from the province on sales is expected within the next month.
Municipalities will need to look after areas of zoning, business licensing, building code, municipal workplace safety and enforcement of regulations around public consumption.
The city plan includes the following steps:
• Assemble a municipal working group on cannabis legalization.
• Engage the public and other key stakeholders, including industry by way of a formal public consultation process.
• Assess which bylaws and other municipal programs require adjustment or creation.
• Prepare options for land-use bylaw amendments in anticipation of direction from other orders of government.
Lot line
consolidation rebate
Council decided to extend the lot line consolidation incentive program for another year.
The city first introduced the program in 2016 when it brought in the storm sewer parcel tax. The program assists property owners with legally removing lot lines to avoid paying more than one $150 parcel tax. Property owners that take advantage of the program will not have to pay extra parcel taxes in the future and will be credited back the extra past parcel taxes.
More than 5o property owners have already taken part in the program.
Provincial legislation requires that when imposing a parcel tax the tax must be applied to all parcels — even when there is only one home sitting on several parcels.
Most of the parcels in question within Castlegar are located in downtown Castlegar — an area defined by subdivision plan 650, which was completed in 1897.
For more information, residents should contact the city’s Department of Development Services.
Request to change parcel definition
In another move to try to remove the burden of property owners having to pay more than one parcel tax, council is moving forward with requesting the Association of Kootenay and Boundary Local Governments (AKBLG) to adopt a resolution to request the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) to support amending the community charter.
It is the community charter that requires that a parcel tax is charged on every parcel.
The resolution states that: “The provisions of the Community Charter with respect to the definition of a parcel and the creation of a parcel tax assessment roll are inconsistent with the Assessment Act and are unfair to property owners while limiting municipalities from equitably distributing a parcel tax burden …”
The resolution asks that the charter is changed to include a statement similar to the Assesment Act: “If a building or other improvement extends over more than one parcel of land, those parcels, if contiguous, may be treated by the assessor as one parcel and assessed accordingly.”
The city brought forward a similar motion at last year’s UBCM meeting, but the motion did not move forward. They hope by first getting the support of the AKBLG that the motion will hold more weight before the UBCM in 2018.
Grants
Council approved three grant applications.
The Arthritis Society of B.C. and Yukon Division will receive $500 to assist with the costs of advertising their Walk to Fight Arthritis. Funds raised during the walk support children and adults living with arthritis through education courses, workshops and programs.
Community Futures Development Corp. of Greater Trail will receive $2,500 for their Junior Dragon’s Den competition. The regional competition will be held on April 19, 2018, at the Brilliant Cultural Centre and the final championship will be held in Trail on May 5, 2018. The funds will be allocated to grand prize funding to be used toward business start-up or tuition.
The RCMP Annual Youth Summit will receive $500 to assist with the costs of hosting the event which will be held in Castlegar at Selkirk College May 1-2, 2018. The summit covers topics such as health, safety, making healthy choices, and includes a motivational keynote speaker. Last year almost 1,000 students attended the event.
Business License
The 2017 year-end totals for business licenses came in at the exact same number as 2016 — 679.
Council also voted to amend the Inter-Community Business Licence Bylaw to include the Village of Salmo.
The West Kootenay Inter-Community Bylaw program includes Castlegar, Creston, Kaslo, Nelson and Rossland. The program simplifies the business licensing process, allowing mobile businesses to operate across the participating government jurisdictions without having to apply for multiple business licences.
In 2017 the City of Castlegar issued 22 Inter-Community licenses.
Advertising
The City of Castlegar will once again be advertising in the annual Castlegar Vacation Guide. The city purchased a $2,050 full-page advertisement to be allocated from the advertising budget.
The ad will be located on the inside of the front page in the 15,000 copies that will be printed.
The guide is distributed to Tourism BC Visitor’s Centres, hotels, coffee shops, real estate offices, venues, gas stations and other locations around the Interior South region of the province.