City of Belleville staff recommend council vote to allow retail cannabis stores in the community.
Council is expected to decide on the issue at its meeting Monday afternoon.
An online survey received 2,263 responses. That’s about 4.5% of the population.
However, the survey results did not confirm whether or not the respondents actually resided in the city.
Over 75% of the respondents supported bricks and mortar stores in Belleville.
Most of them did so because they believed the stores would boost the local economy. Only 59% said they’d
actually buy marijuana at a store.
The highest response rate to the survey came from people 25 to 34 years of age. The fewest responses came from
seniors.
Beside recommending council allow retail cannabis outlets, staff is recommending they get to work on a “community standards” bylaw dealing with such businesses.
Meanwhile, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario will hold a lottery tomorrow (Friday) for the first 25 applications to be selected to try to open retail cannabis businesses.
The City of Belleville is eligible to be one of the five locations to be selected in the East Region of the province.
Results of the lottery are expected to be announced within 24 hours of the draw.
