The cannabis industry is no stranger to redeveloping empty buildings in Belleville, Ont., as The Friendly City has seen the former Nortel building and the old Sears distribution warehouse converted into cannabis production facilities.
On Monday evening, during Belleville’s city council meeting, councillors voted to allow an empty building on Dundas St. East to be zoned for a cannabis grow operation.
The facility will provide 40 new jobs per shift once operations begin, according to the unnamed applicant.Coun. Pat Culhane, however, brought forward community concern over the potential odour that may leak from the facility.That concern was addressed by city staff.“They’re within Health Canada requirements, and certaintly the odours that come from there would be regulated, so we don’t have any concerns,” said Karen Poste, Belleville’s manager of economic development.The municipality says the cannabis company is ready to move into the facility and begin production now that zoning is in place.