Airdrie City council gave third reading Aug. 20 to a bylaw permitting a one-year pilot project that would allow the public consumption of cannabis at a specified location within the naturalized area in Sierra Springs, just south of the Airdrie Co-op.
Airdrie City council gave third reading Aug. 20 to a bylaw permitting a one-year pilot project that would allow the public consumption of cannabis at a specified location within the naturalized area in Sierra Springs, just south of the Airdrie Co-op.
The Cannabis Consumption Bylaw received first and second reading at the July 3 council meeting; however, Mayor Peter Brown voted against allowing permission for third reading. Brown voted against third reading Aug. 20.
“I will not be supporting this initiative. It should be banned everywhere,” he said.
The bylaw also allows for the consumption of cannabis, at the option of the organizer of a special event, providing certain criteria are met.
Kari Kitiuk, Team Leader, Legislative Services, said the site will be monitored for use during the pilot project. Signage will be erected to indicate where, within the naturalized area, the consumption of cannabis is allowed. She added she expects cannabis lounges will ultimately replace the need for the site.
Residential parking concerns
Elayna Allen spoke to council on behalf of her mother, and requested only permitted parking be allowed on Jensen Drive within the school zone around École Edwards Middle School. According to Allen, her mother has difficulty finding a convenient place to park during school hours, and is put at risk due to icy sidewalks in the winter if she has to park some distance away from her home.
“When those houses were built 30 years ago, there wasn’t a school there, there wasn’t parking bylaws and, of course, things change and now, there seems to be a need for some sort of parking restriction across from the school, for the residents,” she said.
Brown said he would support directing staff to look into the issue and return to council with options and the ramifications of allowing permitted parking within the school zone during school hours. He further stated that Rocky View Schools should be contacted and included in those discussions. A motion to do so was passed unanimously.
Proclamations
A request from the Kids Cancer Care Foundation to designate September as Childhood Cancer Awareness month in Airdrie was unanimously approved by council. City hall will be lit up in gold for one day in September, on a date to be determined in consultation with the foundation.
Council unanimously ratified a letter of support for the Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie’s application to Service Canada for a New Horizons for Seniors Program Grant for a proposed inter-generational community garden project. The garden, already located at the organization’s clubhouse on Allen Street, will provide opportunities for youth and seniors to work together.
