Lacombe city council gave final reading to zoning rules for cannabis retailers on Monday night.

The bylaw makes pot shops a permitted use in four commercial districts: Downtown, Transitional, Highway and Shopping Centre, as well as in Light Industrial districts.

Dispensaries will be discretionary in Neighbourhood Commercial and DC2 Direct Control, meaning development applications would be heard by the Municipal Planning Commission before approval.

Mayor Grant Creasey along with councillors Thalia Hibbs, Don Gullekson and Cora Hoekstra voted in favour of third reading.

Hibbs, who was on the cannabis readiness committee, was pleased to see the bylaw pass, which had been in the works since April.

She said many in the public who had fears about legal pot were open to changing their minds.

“This is big for the country, nevermind our community, for sure. This is something that has maybe a bit of a stigma to it,” Hibbs said.

“When I was speaking to people that had concerns, if we had a little bit of a dialogue, a little bit of a conversation, and I was able to share some of the information that we had when we were in the cannabis readiness committee, it really made them feel a lot better about this whole thing. We’ve hit the right balance between being business-friendly but also protecting the community.”

Councillors Rueben Konnik and Chris Ross voted against the bylaw. Coun. Jonathan Jacobson was absent for that portion of the meeting.

There were no changes on Monday night since council approved amendments to the bylaw on Aug. 13.

One of those included a site-specific exemption to remove cannabis retail and liquor sales as a discretionary use at the Winks convenience store on 58 Street. Council made the change in response to concerns over the store’s proximity to schools.

Three more amendments carried before council gave the bylaw second reading, including: to make cannabis retail permitted in C5 Shopping Centre districts, to make cannabis and liquor sales permitted in C4 Highway Commercial districts.

Finally, to prohibit cannabis retail at 40 Brownstone Road.

According to briefing notes for council, “a member of the public and downtown business owner” had “contacted the city on how to communicate with Council and the process to petition Council’s decision at 2nd reading.”

Chief administrative officer Matthew Goudy said the petition called for a complete ban on sales and use of cannabis in downtown Lacombe.

However, he said the petition did not meet validity requirements under the law. Only 200 signatures were obtained while 1,300 were needed.

Hibbs said it would have been nice had those people shown up to the public hearing.

“Would it have affected the outcome in the end? I’m not sure but really do feel it’s important for people to be heard. I certainly would have liked to seen that sooner rather than just a last-minute petition,” Hibbs said.

Council will soon turn its attention to a proposed Smoking Bylaw, which would ban public consumption of marijuana.

The bylaw, which received second reading in July, would also ban smoking and vaping in public parks, trails and within 10 metres of city facilities.