Crime won't pay at Fifth Line cannabis facility, company assures neighbours

Will the cannabis micro-cultivation facility under construction across the street from the city landfill attract criminals to the area?

While no business is immune from break-ins, a representative of the new Algoma Craft Cannabis initiative downplayed that possibility at a community information meeting last night.

"At the heart, a micro-cultivation facility is a small indoor garden," lawyer Gord Acton told about 40 neighbours attending the meeting at the Water Tower Inn.

"The wholesale value of the dried product on the site at any given time is probably less than $150,000," said Acton, representing Marty Major and Matthew China, the two young entrepreneurs behind the venture.

"If you compare that to a retail outlet and I'm a thief, it's probably better for me to break into a retail outlet than into this facility," Acton said, adding that extensive security measures required by federal regulations will serve as a further deterrent.

Last night's meeting, organized by Fifth Line resident Linda Lewis, was generally civil but some neighbours had pointed questions about the business and whether it will affect their property values.

As SooToday's Darren Taylor reported late last month, City Hall has issued a building permit for the venture's steel-clad industrial building, which is currently under construction at 339 Fifth Line East, across the street from the City of Sault Ste. Marie landfill.

A handout distributed by Acton at last night's meeting indicated that Health Canada approval for the business is being sought but "the facility must be fully built out prior to the federal licence being issued, therefore the operating licence is pending completion of the build."

The meeting was attended by Ward 5 Coun. Corey Gardi, Ward 3's Donna Hilsinger and Don McConnell, the city's director of planning and enterprise services.

Coun. Gardi expressed concern that the first he'd heard about the new cannabis venture was from Lewis, who'd heard about it from a co-worker.

"There wasn't really anything that necessitated it coming to council," Gardi commented.

But seeing this was the first application of its kind in Sault Ste. Marie, Gardi said he would have appreciated a heads-up from city staff.

"I let a few people know that," the councillor added.

Acton said mandatory security precautions at the property will include fencing and 24/7 video surveillance, with intrusions reported directly to city police for immediate response.

Everyone working at the site will require criminal background checks.

Several times last night, Acton emphasized the small size of the cannabis production facility.

The new building is 5,500 square feet, but the maximum growing space allowed by Health Canada for a micro-cultivation licence is just 2,100 square feet.

"This is a micro-processing facility. It produces a hundred pounds of dried cannabis a month," Acton said. "A family of four people in North America buy more than a hundred pounds of groceries. This is not a big grow-op."

The Algoma Craft Cannabis website goes further, indicating: "We know Italian grandmas (Nonna!) with bigger tomato gardens. Really. We do!"

Residents of the Fifth Line neighbourhood expressed concern that additional facilities might be added on the 50-acre site, Acton insisted there are no current plans to do so.

While only dried cannabis will be shipped from the building initially, with no on-site chemical processing, the website states: "In the future, we hope to expand our 'processing' to include high-quality edible cannabis products. These future 'processes' might include making cannabis butter, mixing (with flour, baking powder, sugar, chocolate and other tasty food products), and baking."

Other information provided at last night's meeting:

• grow lights will be in the form of high-intensity halide or LEDs suspended from the ceiling
• as a condition of the federal licence, all air expelled from the facility must be filtered to remove all potential cannabis odours. Discernible odours must never leave the site
• wastewater will be essentially the same as that created by a home tomato garden: 99 per cent water with trace minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium and nitrogen
• no harsh chemicals or pesticides will be used
• Algoma Craft Cannabis is studying the possibility of hybrid lighting grow method to reduce its utility bill and carbon footprint
• inside the building, grow lights will be on for 12 hours, off for 12 hours
• shipping from the property will only occur once or twice a month, most likely in a small panel van
• receiving will be two or three times a month, mostly small amounts of soil and nutrients
• the new building will not be a greenhouse, rather an indoor garden with artificial light fully contained inside. The structure has no windows 
• between two and four full-time employees will normally be on-site, but once a month four to six additional part-time staff will conduct harvesting operations

Acton promised to get answers to those questions he wasn't able to immediately answer last night.

"It is my opinion that informed neighbours are more likely to be understanding and supportive of a project like this," Lewis said.

"Although the property owners at 339 Fifth Line were not obliged to seek our approval or get our opinion to develop the property, I maintain that being open and transparent about any proposed development in a rural area or otherwise, early in the process, helps everybody build a better, healthier relationship between property owners and residents. Keeping communication channels open is the best way to earn the trust and respect of all neighbours," she said.