A windowless, concrete-block edifice that has sprouted up on Lochside Drive farmland beside Michell Farm market is turning heads of motorists along the Pat Bay Highway.
The grey building, at 6922 Lochside Dr., is surrounded by security fencing and has an unwelcoming air about it.
An application has been submitted to Health Canada for the building to house a medical marijuana-growing operation.
The man behind it, Shawn Galbraith of Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc., said Wednesday that privacy laws prevent him from discussing his application in public.
Regulations are changing to prevent legal grow-ops from being in residential areas, Galbraith said.
“They can’t be marked clearly as to what they are,” he said. “But you can rest assured that this is a much better system than the old system in terms of keeping the public safe.”
Evergreen Medicinal Supply Inc. was incorporated on Aug. 26, 2013, and is based in the home of Shawn Galbraith.
Denise Ann Galbraith is also listed as a director, as is Michael Brent Galbraith.
Galbraith informed the District of Central Saanich that his intent is to produce, dry and store marijuana and sell it to registered prescription holders. “Production, processing, selling and destruction will take place in a facility located at 6922 Lochside Drive,” said Shawn Galbraith, in a letter dated Sept. 9, 2013.
The property is owned by Victoria realtor Philip Illingworth, who, when contacted Wednesday, wouldn’t talk about the building or its purpose, other than to say the land has a tenant.
“They built it, I just happen to own the land,” Illingworth said.
“I can’t comment on anything. I have an agreement with people, and they’re doing what they’re doing, and my agreement is to own the land and let them do what they’re doing.”
The medical marijuana-growing industry is entirely driven by Health Canada, said Les Sylvan, deputy chief of Central Saanich police.
The municipality, police and fire departments must be notified but there is no local input into the process.
“They just notify us and nor is there an avenue for us to provide any feedback on that,” Sylvan said.
Many existing medical marijuana grow-ops are protected by privacy laws so even the police don’t know where they’re located, he said.
“The concern for us is public safety,” he said.
“This is a program that’s driven by Health Canada and they are required to notify us, and we can’t take it any further than that.”
Galbraith also owns Welton Construction of Victoria, which was incorporated in 2002. Government records show that company is run by Shawn and Denise Galbraith.
Growing medical marijuana is a permitted use within the Agricultural Land Reserve, which includes this property.
