Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson says he’s “petrified” that marijuana production is going to destroy farming in Hamilton.
Ferguson made the comment as the city’s planning committee was hearing a proposal for a 13,000-square-metre greenhouse to grow medical marijuana on Jerseyville Road. The current limit is 2,000 square metres.
Ferguson adds that his “conscience won’t allow us to destroy our beautiful prime agricultural land that should be used to grow food.”
The proposal is part of Green Organic Dutchman’s planned expansion, and spokesman John Ariens stresses that medical marijuana is “a legal agricultural crop.”
He said the operation simply want to be treated like any other greenhouse, which doesn’t face the same restrictions on size.
Ferguson worries that this is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
He said that “once you go beyond 2,000 square metres, there is going to be a lineup of people wanting the exact same thing, and we’re going to cover up all of our prime agricultural land with glass and concrete.”
The company’s application has been deferred until city-wide rules and regulations for marijuana growers are addressed during a future public meeting.
In the meantime, however, councillors have been warned that Green Organic Dutchman could appeal for a tribunal decision on its application, because of council delays in dealing with the application.