Heather Wright/The Independent

Enniskillen Produce’s greenhouse on Lasalle Line won’t be subject to new rules for cannabis operations.
Lawyers for Enniskillen Township and the local produce company announced their agreement during an Ontario Land Tribunal video hearing.

Enniskillen Produce appealed to the tribunal after the municipality passed new zoning rules for cannabis operations. The greenhouse had housed a cannabis operation since 2017 and while the municipality discussed the new guidelines, Australian based Cannim set up shop in the building.

The new rules, the company said, would effectively stop production of cannabis at the facility.
Trevor Brand and his mother, Cathy, had long complained about odour and light issues. Municipal Councillor Mary Lynne McCallum and Deputy Mayor Judy Krall pushed for changes to the Enniskillen’s official plan to deal with the issues the family faced.

In September 2023, council approved zoning changes which would limit the outdoor growth of cannabis 300 meters from homes. It would limit the indoor growth of cannabis 80 meters from homes for standard production of cannabis – less for micro cultivation which would take just over 2,000 square foot of floor space.

It is 28 meters from Brand’s home to the lot line of the greenhouse on Lasalle Line.

The new rules require air quality, light, noise and traffic studies in a five kilometre area around the cultivation facility.

At the time, council could not agree on whether Enniskillen Produce should be exempt from the rules. That lead to the hearing.

Dec. 3, lawyers for the municipality, Lambton County – which provides planning services to the township – and Enniskillen Produce told OLT Adjudicator Bita M Rajaee an agreement had been reached.

Enniskillen Produce lawyer Scott Snider told the hearing “some modifications” are being proposed to the Official Plan Amendment and zoning bylaw which acknowledge the greenhouse had been “built” for cannabis production and process and “had used the facilities for that use prior” to the zoning changes.

“It was an existing operation,” he added saying Enniskillen Produce would only be subject to the new rules around cannabis should there be a physical expansion of the building.

The only objector to the proposed deal would have been the Brands, but the family notified the OLT it was withdrawing from the hearing.

Brand tells The Independent he withdrew because his lawyers suggested he had only a 50/50 chance of having his arguments heard at the hearing should he push ahead.

Brand says he feels “sold out” by Enniskillen Township council, which had drafted the rules to protect residents from the adverse effects of cannabis production.

The deal between Enniskillen and the Enniskillen Produce Company will now move forward.
Lawyers for both the township and the company will submit written arguments outlining the proposed deal before Christmas.

A hearing has been set for January 14 where the adjudicator is expected to release a written decision. However, the outcome is not in doubt.

Rajaee congratulated the municipality and the company at the end of the hearing noting there was a lot of hard work to reach an agreement in a difficult issue.