Amherstburg does not have a pot shop yet, but when it does, town officials want to make sure cannabis retailers are good neighbours.
Town councillors passed a nuisance bylaw Monday night that will prohibit loitering outside storefront cannabis retailers, and address the smell that may drift around the neighbourhood as people sample their new purchase.
"Some people love the smell of marijuana, others not so much," said Councillor Don McArthur.
McArthur said he's hopeful that Amherstburg gets a pot shop when the province announces the recipients of 50 new licenses next month.
"I don't really think loitering or smell is really going to be a problem, but to have that legislation on the books in case it is, is just a prudent approach," he added.
Amherstburg did not qualify in the first round because it has less than 50,000 residents.
So far, only Amherstburg and Leamington have passed bylaws regulating pot shops, although Essex, Kingsville, Windsor, and Pelee Island all opted into hosting the storefront operations. Tecumseh, Lakeshore, and LaSalle all opted out.
He admitted the original draft of the bylaw was more restrictive but said council did not want to impede any applications won locally.
"In the bylaw that was presented to us, they wanted to make sure they had on-site parking," said McArthur. "We reigned them in there. They couldn't open on Dalhousie Street or other places in town. We didn't want it to be too restrictive because we don't want it to be an impediment to a cannabis shop opening up in town."
Right now, the closest pot shop is in London. A shame figured McArthur who believes it will benefit tourism in the town.
"It's still fairly hard to access, right? Even though it's a legal drug," he explained. "If you're a tourist -- you have to be stone-cold crazy to try and bring marijuana across the border. So, if you're a tourist coming to Amherstburg, where are you going to get your marijuana? London?"
The Ford government is expected to hold its second lottery for storefront cannabis retailers on August 20.
