Pinecone Products Ltd.

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting - March 28, ATTACHMENT 1 Pinecone Products Ltd. A Subsidiary of Ascent Industries Corp. of Maple Ridge REQUEST TO PITT MEADOWS MAYOR AND COUNCIL FOR ZONING BYLAW TEXT AMENDMENT MARCH 28, 2017 Who we are Ascent Industries Corp. Pinecone Products Ltd. Pinecone is a Maple Ridge based provider of high quality equipment, products, supplies and services related to the Canadian medical cannabis extraction and derivative products industry. As leaders in extraction equipment and techniques, our state of the art laboratory and team of experts continue to set the standard in innovative extraction processes and equipment for patients using medical cannabis in Canada. Our products exceed international standards and are rigorously tested by 3 rd party laboratories. Our commitment to quality is reflected in our superior products and services. Pinecone does not grow cannabis.

2 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting - March 28, Ascent/Pinecone Longstanding relationship with the City of Maple Ridge, which began in 2011 during the planning process of constructing our 20,000 sq. ft. purpose built, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant, cannabis production facility, which meets the requirements of Health Canada s Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). Since 2013, Ascent has had a formal Research Agreement with Simon Fraser University s (SFU) Biological Sciences Department. The goal of the SFU Research Agreement (which Ascent has continued to fund) is to develop intellectual property, procedures, and methodologies in the areas of good production practices for cannabis cultivation, plant diseases related to cannabis, tissue culture propagation, as well as cannabis extraction, refining, and formulating techniques. We are in our fourth year of successful federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) credits and in our second year of Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC) grants. To date, Ascent has been awarded over $450,000 in research grants and credits for cannabis related research. Business Operations Pinecone has designed and is ready to construct a custom cannabis research and processing facility at the Golden Ears Business Park. Pinecone currently employs 56 full time employees in Maple Ridge 11 employees reside in the Ridge Meadows area. 25 employees have university degrees, college diplomas, or Red Seal tickets. Pinecone, once fully operational in its proposed Pitt Meadows facility, will employ people at that location, drawing more highly skilled workers to the city and diversifying its economic base.

3 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting - March 28, Pinecone s Commitment Security 24 hour live verified monitoring of site through Sonitrol Security. This means the monitoring station can see and hear what is going on in the facility. 100% camera coverage of all internal operations. Access controls for every room in the facility. Security procedures that ensure safety of employees and prevent diversion or theft. Full fire suppression, fire rated walls, and fire sprinkler coverage throughout the facility. Product Quality All procedures governed by Standard Operation Procedures, Task Specific Procedures, and other applicable Record Keeping Documents. Full functioning analytical laboratory onsite to ensure purity, quality and consistency of all processed products. All inventory, procedures, and projects are tracked using enterprise resource planning software for manufacturing. Fitting into the Community Being located in an industrial zone ensures we are away from homes, schools and daycares, and within range of existing utilities and emergency services. Our design features custom three stage air filtration/ventilation systems to ensure no odor is emitted from the facility. Powerful negative air pressure from throughout the facility will pass through charcoal, UV, and Ozone before being emitted through the vent stack. Fire rated walls and full coverage fire suppression system. Consultations with approved engineers to ensure no adverse environmental impacts. No signage or advertising of anything cannabis related at the premises. No sales conducted on site. Regular municipal and fire inspections to ensure compliance with building and fire codes. Minimal vehicle traffic: employees and deliveries only (no customers).

4 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting - March 28, Why we are here today We are seeking a text amendment to section 3.4(h) of the Pitt Meadows Zoning Bylaw 2505, 2011 to enable Pinecone to operate in Pitt Meadows. Proposed change: 3.4 (h)the cultivation, processing, drying, storing, packaging, distribution or testing of marihuana or medical marihuana is prohibited in all zones except Industrial zones. Municipalities which permit cannabis related businesses in Industrial zones include Vernon, West Kelowna, Kamloops, and Squamish. Several others permit such use in other zones such as Agricultural. What we re proud of We are founding members of the Cannabis Trade Alliance of Canada, an association that has been doing advocacy work across Canada relating to cannabis legalization with Federal, Provincial, and Municipal governments and has published several policy papers available on our website: To date, we have been compliant on our yearly fire inspections with the Maple Ridge Fire Department and have had no incidents (Police, Fire, Bylaw, or other) since being given our occupancy permit in We strive to be good corporate citizens and neighbors, having developed positive relationships with our neighbors around our existing facilities, as well as participating in several local fundraising and community building events in Maple Ridge and elsewhere in the Lower Mainland. We have had a long standing relationship with the MS Society of BC, and have organized two educational seminars for their staff, as well as spearheaded several fundraising initiatives, including the Ascent Open, a charitable golf event organized by our team since 2015, with all proceeds going to the Society.

5 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting - March 28, Letters of Support City of Maple Ridge Planning Department Simon Fraser University Professor of Biological Sciences Department CIBC Bank Manager of Small Business Department Growing Strategies Inc. Project and Process Management Consultant Sonitrol Security President and CEO Tweed Head Grower of Federally Licensed Cannabis Producer Len Schmidt Our Director of Finance and resident of Pitt Meadows Onni Our landlord at the proposed Airport Way Facility Airport Way Thank you.