Proposed first-of-its-kind weed-smoking patio gets rejected in Nelson, B.C.

Santana Dreaver · CBC News

· Posted: May 10, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A café proprietor successful the B.C. confederate Interior metropolis of Nelson has been pushing for the city's first-ever weed-smoking patio. Earlier this week, the metropolis assembly rejected Brenton Raby's application.

Yaherb Culture café was established successful downtown Nelson conscionable aft marijuana was legalized successful 2018, anticipating the time erstwhile depletion sites would beryllium permitted. 

Seven years later,  smoking and vaping cannabis connected nationalist patios is permitted successful B.C., successful places wherever smoking and vaping baccy is already allowed, taxable to section and Indigenous bylaws. 

"The program was to unfastened a cannabis civilization café wherever radical successful the cannabis assemblage could stitchery and explicit themselves," said Raby. 

He obtained a concern licence, a registered trademark, and a wellness licence for the renovated café.

In 2017, Nelson updated its Clean Air and Smoking Regulation Bylaw. The revised bylaw does not specifically notation to patios. 

In an email to CBC News, Raby says that helium felt the bylaw was ambiguous capable and decided to prosecute the café.

Nelson metropolis staff recommended the exertion beryllium approved, but assembly not lone rejected the weed smoking patio, but besides voted against different forms of cannabis depletion successful the café, specified arsenic edibles, vaping and marijuana brushed drinks.

"Right from the start, I felt the exertion was doomed," said Raby. 

Concerns from immoderate of the café's neighbours apt factored into the decision, according to Raby, who says it felt similar assembly members were influenced by much than the facts and information that were successful the application. 

"Some neighbours' concerns that came up during the process were blaming cannabis and the cannabis assemblage for each sorts of problems,"

"Car break-ins, nationalist urination and defecation, 1 missive saying that his matrimony was nether accent and helium is getting divorced due to the fact that of cannabis."

Despite concerns from immoderate neighbours, Raby says that the café had enactment from others. 

LISTEN | Nelson metropolis assembly harshes 1 man's mellow:

He besides said that contempt feedback from 2 metropolis councillors who seemed supportive of the café, helium doesn't judge the politician is consenting to reconsider due to the fact that her "prejudice and anti-cannabis stance is excessively firm." 

Nelson Mayor Janice Morrison said she and council's main interest was the fume and odour of cannabis, adding that smoking baccy is presently not permitted connected patios successful Nelson — an assertion Raby disputes.

He says the bylaw lone applies to smoking within seven meters of a public unfastened abstraction and maintains determination are smoking patios astatine 2 establishments successful the city: 1 a section hotel, the other a bar.

Morrison says that had the exertion near retired the smoking of cannabis, she and different assembly members whitethorn person voted otherwise to enactment the depletion of edibles, weed vaporizers and brushed drinks wrong the café.

With Cannabis Control Regulations changing past January to see nationalist patio smoking, a further interest for Morrison and the assembly was being the archetypal metropolis successful B.C. to o.k. a patio for cookware smoking.

"No different assemblage oregon radical has stepped up to bash a depletion tract successful the province. We would beryllium the first, and that was a spot of a concern." 

Morrison says that Raby paid $1,000 to bring his exertion to council, and successful the lawsuit that helium reapplied, the fee would beryllium waived. 

"We did owed diligence. It was respectful and good thought out. We were prepared to beryllium successful the meeting, and it's our occupation to marque decisions that contemplate the assemblage arsenic a whole," she said. 

Raby says that helium is asking a instrumentality steadfast based successful Abbotsford, John Conroy and Associates, to reappraisal the determination to spot if it tin beryllium appealed.

Raby was besides the proprietor of Brandi's Place, a 24/7 java store successful Nelson that was unfastened connected a impermanent lease until March 31, 2025. The java store was known to enactment and connection wintertime respite to the section stateless colonisation successful Nelson. 

He says that erstwhile Brandi's Place was open, it faced a batch of structural maltreatment from the metropolis and neighbours successful an effort to unopen it down. He says helium thinks that the antagonistic effect to Brandi's Place whitethorn person been a origin successful the Yaherb culture café decision.

In an interrogation with CBC's Daybreak South, Morrison said that Raby's engagement with Brandi's Place did not power her or council's decision.