The city of Windsor will no longer weigh-in on where retail cannabis stores can open.
Ward 4 Councillor Chris Holt brought a motion before council (Monday) to eliminate the city's by-law, because at the end of the day, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) determines how close a store can be to places like schools and addiction treatment centres.
"It didn't really seem like there was any value in the municipality doing anything because the AGCO has the last say and as long as it's within their guidelines they supported it," he says.
He tells AM800 News reviewing applications is an expensive process that taxpayers don't need to fund.
"They're very time sensitive, so we had to call special meetings of council and get all the corporate leadership team and upper members of administration together for this one specific item," says Holt. "It also required the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and Windsor Police Service to do an in-depth report on each and every application."
Future applications will still go before council as a communication item, not for debate or approval unless a councillor puts forward a motion to discuss it.
According to the AGCO's website there are three licenced retail cannabis stores in Windsor, Ont., with 22 applications still in progress.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi