Council takes note of complaints related to Medicinal Grow Op smells

Councillor Cunningham seeks opinions
on how to deal with medicinal grow op
smells in city neighbourhoods

With the relaxation of laws governing marijuana expected to move forward later this year, Councillor Barry Cunningham provided a heads up on an issue that might become a more frequent complaint for City Council in the months and years to come.

At Monday's council session, Mr. Cunningham took note of some concerns in the community that he has received related to smells emanating from homes with a medicinal grow op in place, with the Councillor wondering if the topic might fall under the city's nuisance bylaw.

Noting that the bylaw isn't specific, he outlined for Council how the situation has become a concern for some residents and is something that the city should explore further.

The councillor also observed that there are measures that growers can take to reduce the impact on their neighbours, something that it would seem isn't taking place in some areas of the city. Mr. Cunningham also suggested that the home based grow ops should not infringe on the rest of the neighbours right to go into their yards.

While he didn't offer up any kind of numbers to indicate just how large the number of grow ops might be, he did note that the the current situation is causing some distress for some residents, asking of staff if there is a way to give notice to those growing their medicinal marijuana and whether there were any teeth in the current bylaw to address the issue.

In reply to the inquiry, City Manager Robert Long offered up some interpretation on the theme for council.

"I believe that the smell would have to be, by definition noxious, so we can check. I guess it is in the nose of the beholder what is a noxious smell or not, but clearly if it's a nuisance and that's defined in the terms of the community then I think we would have the ability to act'

You can pull out your old Lynyrd Skynrd CD and play it in the background, as you listen in to the discussion from Monday evening, the topic comes up at the 36 minute mark.





For a look at some of the other notes from Monday's Council Session see our Council Timeline feature here.

For more items of interest related to Prince Rupert City Council see our Council Discussion page here.