Estevan city council met with the owner of the city’s first cannabis retail outlet, and approved the location for the store, during Monday night’s council meeting.
The store, named Prairie Sky Cannabis, will be located at 421 Kensington Avenue, in a strip mall in northeast Estevan. John Thomas, who operates the company with his brother David, was at the meeting and spoke to council.
Prairie Sky Cannabis was selected as the retailer for Estevan through a lottery offered by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority earlier this year. The company also received the permits for Battleford, Martensville and Moosomin.
“We’re very excited to take on this new venture, and very excited to be in Estevan, and very conscious that this is still an industry that has some concerns (associated) with it,” said Thomas.
The company hopes to meet the bylaws and regulations of all levels of government, he said. But they are excited to be part of an industry that is about to be legalized and will be growing quickly.
Members of council were able to speak to Thomas about the bylaw. Councillor Travis Frank asked whether there would be marijuana paraphernalia or advertising at the outlet.
Thomas said that SLGA has outlined regulations regarding the business, and what they can’t do. SLGA will be allowing the sale of what they call cannabis accessories and cannabis ancillary items and those will be in stock. These products like cannabis will not be seen from outside the store, and the company will not be carrying an overwhelming amount of it like might be seen at a paraphernalia store.
And there won’t be posters or other marijuana-related advertising on the windows.
“That goes back to the kind of business we’re trying to run,” said Thomas. “As the designs come out, we’re thinking about a pretty clean image.”
They want to bring a sense of legitimacy to the business, and they don’t want to run it in a tacky fashion.
In a report to council, Richard Neufeld, the city’s land development services manager, noted the outlet needs to be at least 200 metres from a school, and the distance has been measured at 237 metres from Estevan Comprehensive School. The storefront will look essentially the same as it does now, and it will be visible to the general public and from the facing street.
Neufeld noted that one respondent was not pleased with the proposal, and expressed concerns with issues related to the location and young people using cannabis.
Another respondent didn’t want a retailer near their business.
