By Steve Hubrecht
A Cranbrook cannabis-growing entrepreneur has big plans to start an operation in Canal Flats.
Village residents will have a chance to hear more about those plans during an upcoming open house.
Philippe Roux owns a licensed cannabis nursery in Cranbrook as well as a cannabis consulting business. During a recent Canal Flats council meeting he outlined his hopes to set up a cultivation operation in the village on a large, currently vacant industrial lot along Grainger Road.
“It’s a huge piece of land with nothing on it right now,” said Roux. “It would be a perfect location for me to expand my business.”
That expansion would entail growing cannabis using a proprietary method in 40-foot (12-metre) long shipping containers, up to 50 of them, arranged together in conjunction with an agricultural side project to grow vegetables.
Growing cannabis involves large amount of heat (which is leftover from air conditioning used to keep the cannabis cool) and many growers “do not do a good job of repurposing heat,” Roux told councillors. He would divert much of the heat from his planned Canal Flats operation into a greenhouse, where he and his wife would raise tomatoes and cabbage.
It would fit well, said Roux since “my wife has a cabbage roll business.”
His operation would employ seven workers; four full time and three part time. Using shipping containers would be good for security and makes the business scalable, said Roux, adding that if the operation grows, he can easily scale up a little bit at a time by simply adding more shipping containers.
Councillor Andrew Weitzel raised concerns about aesthetics, pointing out that Grainger Road is one of the main ways people enter downtown Canal Flats off Highway 93/95.
“Any time somebody is driving right in off the road, just from a visual standpoint, we want to make sure that there is a nice, welcoming look to our community. It looks to me like the first thing we’re going to see is shipping containers,” said Weitzel, asking if Roux had any ideas to somehow beautify it “so it doesn’t look so industrial and cold.”
Roux replied he plans to use only new shipping containers, so none will look ratty or rusted, and paint them a uniform, neutral colour. He is also open to putting up a nicely designed fence as well as a row of trees as a visual break.
Councillor Patricia Reed noted that shipping containers on the corner of Grainger Road and Burns Avenue “doesn’t fall in line with our Official Community Plan (OCP).” She noted there is a day care facility across the street, and wondered if Roux could put the shipping containers farther back from the streetfront.
“I’ll put them wherever you want me to put them,” answered Roux.
Canal Flats councillors thought it best for Roux to present his plans directly to local residents during a public open house, so they can gauge community feedback.
Roux readily agreed to do so, saying he thinks it may get local people excited about creating good-paying jobs.
The corner of Grainger Road and Burns Road is the site of the proposed cannabis cultivation plan in Canal Flats
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