A report going to LaSalle's town council next Tuesday night recommends the town opt out of hosting retail cannabis stores, at least for now.
The report cited similar concerns to those expressed by councils in Tecumseh and Lakeshore. It said opting in may put additional strain on municipal services like the fire department, policing, and building inspections.
With little time to study the impact on those services, and no best practices to emulate, town staff recommend the town wait and see how retail marijuana stores are adopted elsewhere first.
The province has given cities and towns until January 22 to decide whether to opt in or not. Municipalities that do not opt-in can do so later. However, those that agree to host so-called "pot shops" will not be allowed to opt out in the future.
Lakeshore and Tecumseh decided to opt out last month.
At the time, Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain told BlackburnNews.com he was concerned municipalities would have little say how many shops would open, or where they would be located.
"Are they next to schools? Are they next to parks, community centres? There were no answers for all of these questions," he said. "You don't go into the unknown because you don't know what might be there."
Leamington did vote to opt in even though it will not qualify for the province's lottery next week to choose the first 25 cities to host the shops. Leamington Mayor, Hilda McDonald said her town wanted to get in on the bottom floor.
"We had a presentation from some investors who are looking to get in on the ground floor for retail, and we would like to be first in line," she rationalized.
McDonald acknowledges the province has not clarified many details but is confident it will soon.
So far, Windsor, Kingsville, Essex, and Amherstburg councils have not decided whether to opt-in or not.
