11779 replies to this topic

[N E Body]

“The survey results also showed that 24% of ppl think that crime has increased in the past 5 yrs, 33% were the victim of a crime over the past 5 yrs, 39% felt unsafe or very unsafe in downtown Victoria at night.”

 

Oddly enough, I felt much more unsafe downtown at night 20 years ago than I do now... and I was much younger then... still full of piss and vinegar.

[rmpeers]

What's the source for that survey?

[Mike K.]

VicPD.

[rmpeers]

VicPD.

Presumably to support their request for funding and several more officers?

[On the Level]

I could have put this in the pot shop thread, but the aspect I want to point out;

 

a) the continued push by this municipal government to be granted powers it does not hold and make decisions on issues that are not within it's purview

 

b) representing only a segment of the population

 

The Province requires windows in cannabis storefronts to be opaque.

vs.

The CoV requires windows in heritage building be transparent.  The CoV is now going to push back at the province.  When they go to have this "conversation" what are they going to say when they are asks what their proposal will do to the provinces goal of protecting children?  

 

I shouldn't be surprised.  This is the council trying to ram safe injection sites and zero barrier housing beside schools kids be damned. 

 

https://www.timescol...ules-1.23508644

Edited by On the Level, 25 November 2018 - 11:18 AM.

[sdwright.vic]

This is the business'(for opening BEFORE actually legal) and Helps & companies for allow things to open BEFORE the Province set rules) fault.

How dare she blame the Province for not taking little old Victoria's heritage bylaws into consideration when drafting legalized pot laws for the ENTIRE Province.

This is yet another mess she has made. Yet again she blames others for this mistake.

Lady you need to clean this mess up by yourself. If pot shops can't be in heritage buildings because THEY jumped the gun, to bad so sad.

[spanky123]

^ I think the more important discussion is whether wall to wall pot shops are the best fit for old town regardless of the window coverings. 

Edited by spanky123, 25 November 2018 - 12:58 PM.

[sdwright.vic]

That is an argument for after my point. If these people lose there shirts for countervailing the law, the they lose there shits. If suddenly old town isn't suitable for these businesses, then we discuss the fact they should not be wall to wall. However, council seems to be on favour for wall to wall with the plan to reduce the distance between bylaw.

[rmpeers]

In my view, pot shops are not part of a vibrant downtown and I don't share the same hero worship of pot dealers that our mayor and council have. The solution is obvious: put them somewhere where opaque windows are acceptable and don't have five on every block or whatever we ended up with in the Helps Pot Gold Rush Glory Days.

[Mystic-Pizza]

In my view, pot shops are not part of a vibrant downtown and I don't share the same hero worship of pot dealers that our mayor and council have. The solution is obvious: put them somewhere where opaque windows are acceptable and don't have five on every block or whatever we ended up with in the Helps Pot Gold Rush Glory Days.

The only thing I must point out is that using the term "Dealer" for those who run pot shops is kind of no longer the thing because they are now sales persons since Marijuana became legal.  They are selling a drug, versus dealing a drug in the sense that the term "Dealer" has always been associated with one that sells or pushes an illegal product.

 

Do I support recreational Cannabis?....nope, but do I support medical Cannabis?...you bet.  

 

Is what people must question here is why in over a month since legalization has our province not granted a license to a single shop other then in Kamloops? There is something very corrupt already happening with this. We have a totally legal product, yet our very own provincial government is doing everything they can to delay access to it. Federal law as far as I am concerned supersedes provincial law, and our province needs to comply. For me medical access via LOCAL shops instead of having to order from some website across the country is my interest. Why should I have to order from thousands of miles away a product that is perfectly legal where I live, when the law states that I should be able to walk down the block and buy it from a local shop?

[spanky123]

^ In Trudeau’s rush to get pot passed there was simply not enough time to get retailers through the complex approval process. I don’t think that ordering online is such a great inconvenience though, heck Amazon seems to do ok!

If I recall from the last council notes, only 7 local shops have applied for Provincial licenses at this point anyways.

[Mystic-Pizza]

^ In Trudeau’s rush to get pot passed there was simply not enough time to get retailers through the complex approval process. I don’t think that ordering online is such a great inconvenience though, heck Amazon seems to do ok!

If I recall from the last council notes, only 7 local shops have applied for Provincial licenses at this point anyways.

If that is true and only 7 shops have applied (which I don't believe as that would make no sense) ..........then what is the delay? All it takes is the stroke of a pen from the Minister in charge and BOOM license granted. 

 

There were literally  months, and months for the province to get retailers through the approval process in advance. Yet they didn't. They chose one single shop in Kamploops out of the hundreds that operate in BC.  

Edited by Mystic-Pizza, 25 November 2018 - 11:23 PM.

[Mike K.]

Sebberry, is it alright with you if I start a list of this term's issues on the first page of this discussion? It happens to be your post.

 

Thus far we have:

• the introduction of an affordable housing initiative that will require developers to allocate 15% of homes as below-market rentals in market condo and rental projects
• the cancelling of the Crystal Pool replacement project at Central Park
• City's cannabis retail storefront requirements clash with provincial requirements over opaque glass in Old Town

[spanky123]

If that is true and only 7 shops have applied (which I don't believe as that would make no sense) ..........then what is the delay? All it takes is the stroke of a pen from the Minister in charge and BOOM license granted. 

 

There were literally  months, and months for the province to get retailers through the approval process in advance. Yet they didn't. They chose one single shop in Kamploops out of the hundreds that operate in BC.  

 

Not that simple at all. Here is the link to the process and reference to the 7 applicants. https://pub-victoria...ocumentId=24521

 

Local retailers of pot are restricted to selling products that they have bought from the LCBO. If the financial model is the same as booze, then their margin is about 10% if they sell at the same price as the Government but now they also have to compete against home delivery and what will soon be a range of national retailers like Shoppers. I am not at all surprised that we have 7 applicants.

Edited by spanky123, 26 November 2018 - 08:31 AM.

[aastra]

 

...the province’s desire to keep prying eyes out of cannabis shops could ultimately could push pot retailers out of Victoria’s downtown heritage buildings, city councillors were told.

 

Okay, so there's no problem, right? The rules are the rules. Rules are religion in Victoria, right? Or are we saying the tourist zone needs pot shops? Pot shops are suddenly -- overnight -- essential elements of the old town atmosphere? Flower baskets, height restrictions, and pot shops?

 

 

“I think it’s probably something they [the province] didn’t think about when they made these regulations — what would this mean in a heritage building on a pedestrian thoroughfare downtown.”

 

Why should they have thought about it? Who cares? The pot shops can set up somewhere else. Is there a shortage of retail spaces in downtown Victoria (or beyond) that aren't in heritage buildings? Give me a break.

 

This is the same city that used to wring its collective hands over the prospect of yet another coffee shop or fast-food chain? Do people seriously not see the inconsistency here? For decades we've been beaten over the head with the idea that the old town is so ultra-sensitive and precious. Preserving the historic district's quaintness and uniqueness is mission #1, blah blah blah.

 

 

The solution is obvious: put them somewhere where opaque windows are acceptable and don't have five on every block...

 

Suffice it to say, it shouldn't send a chill down anyone's spine that pot shops will only have access to most of the retail spaces in downtown Victoria, rather than absolutely all of the retail spaces in downtown Victoria.

[Nparker]

Mods: perhaps the pot shop posts here should be moved to the cannabis thread.

[Mystic-Pizza]

Mods: perhaps the pot shop posts here should be moved to the cannabis thread.

I was thinking that too, but the posts here are more directly linked to the Mayor and Councils role with it verses the daily retail aspect of it.

Edited by Mystic-Pizza, 26 November 2018 - 11:40 AM.

[On the Level]

^ It pertains to bylaws and governance more than the pot shops.

With the lack of parking, street issues and competition from Saanich and the Westshore, I wonder if this has more to do with vacancy rates downtown. Without dozens and dozens of pot shops, you'll notice climbing vacancy rates.

[Nparker]

Seem like these recent posts deal with pot shops to me.

[sdwright.vic]

They deal with pot shops in relation to city bylaws that prevent them from being in areas of that city bylaw would prevent them from being because of an aspect of the provincial law. Provincial law that the city states the province did not take into consideration. Like the premier need to confer with Helps for ever move he makes.

So this has to do with the city and the current administration in that they are attempting to govern from the bottom up once again.