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Do Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows need more cannabis stores?

There are currently five stores serving the needs of both communities
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Geoff Dear is the president of Muse Cannabis, which has multiple locations across B.C., including one in Maple Ridge. (Muse Cannabis/Special to The News)

Cannabis sales in B.C. are thriving now more than ever, with the province reaching a total of nearly $670 million in cannabis revenue in 2022 – a $117 million increase from 2021.

But the success of B.C.’s cannabis industry greatly varies from city to city.

In Maple Ridge, Burb Cannabis became one of the province’s newest additions after opening its doors on Feb. 24, giving the city its fifth cannabis store.

READ MORE: New cannabis retailer opens in Maple Ridge

Burb Cannabis co-owner, Steve Dowsley, explained that although his company already had locations in four other cities, he felt that there was a unique opportunity to be had in Maple Ridge.

“From an economic standpoint, Maple Ridge took a fairly measured approach to its policy in terms of the number of [cannabis] stores,” said Dowsley. “If you look at a city like Vancouver, they have significantly more stores per capita. This makes Maple Ridge more attractive than many other municipalities.”

“I also live in Maple Ridge and love being a part of the community. It gives me an opportunity to give even more back to my hometown.”

Maple Ridge city councillors and Mayor Dan Ruimy joined Burb Cannabis’ co-founders Steve Dowsley and John Kaye at the February grand opening of their Maple Ridge location. (Burb Cannabis/Special to The News)
Maple Ridge city councillors and Mayor Dan Ruimy joined Burb Cannabis’ co-founders Steve Dowsley and John Kaye at the February grand opening of their Maple Ridge location. (Burb Cannabis/Special to The News)

Even with his new store now serving the community of Maple Ridge, Dowsley still feels like there could be an opportunity for another cannabis store to thrive in the city.

“Something up on Dewdney might make sense, so it’s nicely spread out,” he explained. “East Maple Ridge only has Cheeky’s so there is an easy argument for another store.”

However, not everyone shares this same mentality. Geoff Dear, president of Muse Cannabis, believes that the city has already reached its optimal number of cannabis retailers.

“We feel that Maple Ridge is well-serviced for cannabis stores and are concerned about new store openings,” said Dear. “The current amount of stores is more than enough.”

RELATED: Maple Ridge council stops government cannabis store

When taking a look at the number of licensed cannabis retailers in B.C., there does appear to be a big difference in the amount of Maple Ridge locations versus cities of comparable size.

Maple Ridge, with a population of approximately 90,000 people, currently only has one cannabis store per about 18,000 residents.

Meanwhile, the similarly sized cities of Kamloops, Chilliwack, and Victoria, have one store per approximately 6,500 residents, 11,500 residents, and 3,000 residents, respectively.

The ratio of cannabis stores to residents for Maple Ridge could get even lower when taking into account the fact that the neighbouring city of Pitt Meadows has zero cannabis retailers, forcing many of its 19,000 residents to also shop at Maple Ridge stores.

This is a big part of why Dowsley chose a location close to the border between the two cities.

“We are right on Lougheed Highway and have ample parking,” explained Dowsley. “Being on an arterial road and having lots of parking is critical. The rush hour home will be our busiest time as people can be in our store, with their product, and back on the road in minutes.”

“Expectations of the Maple Ridge store is that it will perform above average.”

Muse Cannabis, which is also located close to the Pitt Meadows border and has been open for two years now, reported similar success in its location.

“Our store continues to grow and have success this year and is one of our best locations for sales,” said Dear.

The City of Pitt Meadows recently addressed this lack of cannabis retailers at the March 7 council meeting, where Colin O’Byrne, manager of planning for the city, presented some council policy and bylaw updates for cannabis retail licence applications.

“On Nov. 8, 2022, a zoning application was brought forward for a cannabis retail outlet at Meadowtown Mall,” explained O’Byrne.

“At the time, staff noted that we didn’t have any guiding policy to assess such applications, nor a fee structure in place. So we took that away, and in the process of considering the policy, we also took feedback from the economic development advisory committee.”

O’Byrne introduced the new policy, which includes criteria that cannabis retailers should be located:

• Within the urban containment boundary

• On a property designated as highway commercial, community commercial, or town centre mixed use

• At least 200m from a school, playground, or sports field

• At least 500m from another cannabis store

Coun. Gwen O’Connell commented on the new policy, which allows for the application of producer retail store licenses that let farms sell cannabis products they produce themselves.

“I just think it’s ironic that we can’t have somewhere in the farmland have feed for the animals,” said O’Connell.

“We’re not allowed to do that because it’s not grown. And yet, we can sell marijuana. It just boggles my mind. I’m not going to support this. The City of Surrey doesn’t allow them at all in their city, and that’s a huge city.”

READ MORE: City of Pitt Meadows criticizes ALC’s decision to block feed supply store relocation

The policy changes allowing cannabis retail applications were passed by the council, so Pitt Meadows may soon get its first cannabis store in the near future, with the original application from last November still needing to come back to council for first and second readings.


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Councillor Gwen O’Connell was the only vote not to support the policy changes allowing cannabis retailers to apply for business licenses in Pitt Meadows. (Brandon Tucker/The News)


Brandon Tucker

About the Author: Brandon Tucker

I have been a journalist since 2013, with much of my career spent covering sports and entertainment stories in Alberta.
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