City to vote on pot shop rules, Eastgate Drive realignment

A bylaw outlining how retail marijuana stores are regulated in Regina will be voted on Monday night during the city council meeting.

Recommendations call for pot shops to have a one-block buffer zone from other pot shops, along with places like playgrounds, schools and daycares. The exception to this would be in the downtown.

“The administration has thought this through enough that this will actually promote public safety which I think is critical,” said Mayor Michael Fougere.

Not all councillors support the proposal. Ward 2 councillor Bob Hawkins wants the buffer zones to be two-blocks, and he wants it right across the city, including throughout the downtown. He previously said he was intending to bring an amendment forth in that regard.

For the mayor, using current liquor regulations to guide pot seems like the right approach.

“Treating cannabis much the same as we have with other regulated products like alcohol and where they’re proposed to be zoned I think is fair and reasonable,” said Fougere.

Whatever council decides, the mayor knows it may not be perfect.

“It’s hard to say whether it will go without a glitch when it’s legalized…we’re going in the right direction, no question.”

Eastgate Drive solution

Council will also vote on what administration believes is a permanent solution to a problem that’s impacted business owners in the east end of the city for the last three years.

In 2014, the city was about to close a portion of Eastgate Drive by Coleman Crescent. However, numerous businesses in the area raised concerns about access, arguing customers would have a tough time simply getting to stores and restaurants if that section of Eastgate was closed.

To compromise, a temporary bridge was put in place while a permanent solution was sought.

Now, city staff is recommending Eastgate be realigned in a construction project that would cost around $2.5 million.

Monday night’s council meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.