Delta to get its first cannabis dispensary

Interior of the new Seed and Stone location at 901 Gordon St. Delta Council recently gave final reading to a proposed Seed and Stone dispensary on Annacis Island. Jay Wallace photo

Delta is finally getting its first dispensary, three years after cannabis became legal in Canada.

On Nov. 22, council gave final reading to a proposed cannabis dispensary at 616 Chester Rd. on Annacis Island, a 0.8 hectare industrial property just off Highway 91.

The dispensary will be operated by Seed & Stone, a non-medical cannabis retail brand which currently operates one store in Chilliwack, two in Victoria and another yet-to-open location on White Rock’s Marine Drive. A staff report notes the owner, Vickram Sachdeva, has over 20 years of experience in retail, including managing liquor stores and therefore complying with provincial regulations and licence requirements.

Seed and Stone will be required to purchase cannabis products directly from the provincial government’s distribution branch, and no cultivation, processing or manufacturing will take place on site.

The Annacis Island store is the first dispensary to be approved by Delta council, and more could soon be on the way.

On Nov. 8, council gave first and second reading to an application for a dispensary at 120 – 8077 Scott Rd., which would be operated by Inspired Cannabis Co., an established non-medical cannabis retail brand with four dispensaries in BC (two in Vancouver and one each in Nanaimo and Salmon Arm), two in Saskatchewan and six in Ontario, plus another Vancouver location and three more in Ontario “coming soon.”

A staff report said that Inspired Cannabis is a family-run business founded by two owners with more than 15 years of experience in starting up and operating seven community pharmacies in the Vancouver area.

Four other applications have been received by council for information and are under review by city staff before making their way back for council’s approval.

Three dispensaries are being pitched for South Delta: one at 5128 Ladner Trunk Road (Ladner Centre Mall) and one at 100 – 1179 56th Street (Bayside Village Mall) — both of which would be operated by Inspired Cannabis — and another at 1274 56th Street (Tsawwassen Shopping Centre) by Queensborough Cannabis Co.

Another application would see a government-run cannabis store open at North Delta’s Scottsdale Centre (7019 Scott Road), next door to the existing B.C. liquor store.

On Sept. 27, with (at the time) six applications on the books, Delta council decided in a closed meeting that staff should not accept any new cannabis dispensary rezoning applications “until further notice.”

— with a file from Sarah Gawdin

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