PALMERSTON – Minto council has approved the sale of a parcel of industrial land here for a micro cannabis production facility.
On March 19 council authorized an agreement to sell a 1.73-acre parcel at the back of the Palmerston Industrial Park to Cambridge-based BlackRose Reserve Inc.
A micro cannabis facility is restricted to a “cannabis canopy space” up to a total of 2,150 square feet.
“This facility would also be organic and focus on recreational cannabis,” stated business and economic manager Belinda Wick-Graham in a report to council.
The report notes discussions with Sean Rozon from BlackRose Reserve Inc. began in May 2018 when Rozon met with Mayor George Bridge, chief building official Terry Kuipers and Wick-Graham to discuss available land for the operation.
In January, Rozon offered to purchase the land for $35,000/acre, for a total purchase price of $60,550.
The planned facility includes a 5,200ft2 greenhouse (2,150 for cannabis cultivation) and 5,500ft2 for production and other related activities.
The facility cost is estimated at $3.5 to $4.5 million.
BlackRose Reserve Inc. has hired its management team, which includes a PhD-trained master grower and a vice president of quality assurance with over 25 years’ experience, as well as Sean and Kyle Rozon.
Security clearance applications have already been submitted to the RCMP for Health Canada.
The company expects to hire six full-time employees during its first year of operation with potential for more as the company grows.
“Mr. Rozon has put a really great team together,” said Wick-Graham.
BlackRose Reserve is the second company to purchase land for marijuana production at the Palmerston Industrial Park.
Krosinski Enterprises Ltd. of Mississauga purchased land in 2017 and has been working with Health Canada on the approvals process. That business is planning construction of a 5,000ft2 processing facility and three 5,000ft2 cultivation greenhouses, to produce medical cannabis and, “as the law permits,” recreational cannabis.
The report notes a site-specific rezoning will be required to allow a cannabis facility on the BlackRose Reserve property, which is not yet fully serviced.
“Based on our previous experience with the cannabis licensing process, we understand the length of time it takes to become a licensed producer (18 to 24 months); as such we are comfortable selling these lands at the back of the industrial park,” Wick-Graham stated.
BlackRose Reserve Inc. has agreed to pump sewage to the existing manhole and when the sewage lift station is installed the business would be connected at the Town of Minto’s cost, as the lot is being sold as serviced.
A tender has been issued to extend the water main and road to the back of the industrial park.
Although the 10,700ft2 building is 603ft2 shy of the minimum 15% lot coverage, which Graham said, “We’re okay with it” due to the triangular shape of the lot.
Costs associated with opening up the back portion of the Palmerston Industrial Park, expected to be included in the 2019 capital budget, are estimated at $200,000 for road work and $35,000 for a water main extension.
The project would generate an estimated $27,606 in development charges and “possibly more should development charges increase,” the report states.
A motion to authorize the sale was approved unopposed. Councillor Dave Turton was absent.
