Swift Current city council reshaped their proposed zoning for retail cannabis stores last night and put it into effect.

After hearing feedback from The Center and the East Side Church of God at the last council meeting, the City has decided to have property owners within 75 metres of any proposed marijuana shop notified, for a public hearing to be held to consider the development, and require city council's approval.

Michael Ruus, general manager of planning and growth development with the City of Swift Current, said council sees retail cannabis stores as a discretionary use building (bars and lounges) which require the above listed three-step process as well.

"Basically what this tool does is allow council to have discretion over the allowance of that particular use and any other uses listed under discretionary uses under the zoning bylaw," he said. "Council felt that, as you heard tonight from council, they thought that the right decision moving forward was to proceed in a similar manner."

The City had followup discussions with both parties who were opposed to the original proposed bylaw and felt this outcome would satisfy all parties involved.

"We reached out to them to have a quick discussion on what would be a reasonable compromise, " Ruus said. "So that we can, on one hand, welcome new businesses that are wanting to invest in the community and bring new customers in from the entire region, while also protecting these groups investments in The Center in the downtown."

Ruus added that the proposed ideas from The Center would have been tough to implement just because of the size of the downtown that could potentially be home to a marijuana shop.

"It's a tool that doesn't necessarily scale well to a community of our size," he said. "Given our mix of uses throughout the entire city, that would make things difficult for any business owners that were wanting to locate into the community. We wanted to try and come up with a solution where it would be a little more transparent, and these businesses would have a better foot forward to make their initial investment."