The town of Richmond Hill may soon welcome a plant for the growing and distribution of medical marijuana — but it will have to wait on an Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision to determine the appropriateness of that use for the site at 75 Newkirk Rd.
To the disappointment and frustration of Dyma Inc., a Markham-based company that produces medical marijuana, the town has deemed their proposed plant an agricultural property, ill-fitting with the industrial zoning on Newkirk Road.
“Our client’s use is not agricultural in nature,” said Laura Bowman, the lawyer representing Dyma Inc. “Even if it was, the definition of industrial use is broad enough to include it. Agricultural use is not … excluded from the definition of industrial use, which includes the making of any article or substance. The uses at the subject site would include the cultivation, drying, curing, testing, packaging and storage of medical [marijuana.]”
Chief business development officer for Dyma, Niki Spence, indicated that some of the legal runaround may come from a stigma surrounding medical cannabis use.
“Municipal staff need to be properly informed,” said Spence. “Stigma of [medical marijuana] keeps staff fearful of [the] unknown.”
Dyma says that their facility would provide meaningful employment opportunities for residents of York Region. Bowman stressed to the town that locating the plant further away would result in higher courier costs for medical marijuana patients who use the substance for ailments such as vision impairment and chronic pain.
Councillors at a recent public meeting did note a possible stigma being attached to the facility. “It’s just too fresh, it’s just too new,” said local and regional councillor Brenda Hogg. “You may have the law on your side, but it would be an offence to some residents.”
Councillor Carmine Perrelli, whose ward houses the site, disagreed. “A lot of lives have been changed by … this medical use of marijuana.”
