The Regional District Board has initiated Amendment Bylaw No. 2858 in order to introduce new policy statements into the various Electoral Area Official Community Plan (OCP) Bylaw regarding the criteria that may be used by the Board when considering site specific rezoning amendments to allow "micro cannabis production facilities.  Specifically: 

• the parcel under application has an area not less than 2.0 hectares;
• the maximum size of the plant surface cultivation area is 200.0 m²;
• confirmation is provided that adequate water and servicing is available to the site; and
• if the parcel of land that is the subject of an application adjoins a Low or Medium Density Residential zone, the micro cannabis production facility will be setback 60.0 metres from that zone boundary.

NOTE: Amendment Bylaw No. 2858 initially proposed the introduction of a new use of "micro cannabis production facility" into the Electoral Area Zoning Bylaws, that this use be a permitted use in the Resource Area (RA), Agriculture (AG1, AG2 & AG3), Large Holdings (LH1 & LH2) and Small Holdings Two (SH2) zones provided a parcel size is not less than 2.0 ha in area the production facility does not exceed 400 m2 in area.  This direction was amended by the Board at its February 6, 2020, meeting of the Planning and Development (P&D) Committee with the new direction being to introduce new policy statements to the Electoral Area OCP Bylaws.

The Regional District is proposing a series of amendments to the Electoral Area Zoning Bylaws in order to update the regulations related to “home industry” and “home occupation” uses. 

It is further proposed to prohibit cannabis production in all zones, other than Industrial, with exceptions being provided for parcels in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) where cannabis production complies with the requirements of the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Act & Regulations. 

With regard to the update of “home industry” and “home occupation” regulations, it is being proposed to, amongst other things, introduce standardized wording related to:

• A home occupation shall not occupy more than 50% of the floor area of a principal dwelling unit or accessory building to a maximum of 50.0 m²;

• A home occupation shall not involve the outdoor storage of materials and equipment associated with a contractor, trade or mobile service;

• No home industry shall be permitted on a parcel less than 2.0 hectares in size;

• The maximum floor area utilized for a home industry, including the indoor or outdoor storage of materials, commodities or finished products associated with the home industry shall not exceed 200.0 m²; and

• Only persons residing in the principal dwelling unit may carry on the home industry located on the parcel, and up to two (2) non-resident employees may be on the parcel.

• prohibit cannabis production as a type of home industry or occupation.