The City of Hamilton is floating the idea of allowing rural pot-growing greenhouses bigger than Lime Ridge mall.
The potential policy change would allow legal medical marijuana growers to build greenhouses up to 90,000 square metres in size, or close to one million square feet.
The option will be discussed at a Tuesday planning meeting, but not voted on until public feedback is gathered for a future report to council. Such a change would be a radical U-turn for a city that currently restricts rural grow-ops to 22,000 square feet.
The prospect of "monster" greenhouses faces opposition from leery residents who live nearby as well as from councillors like Lloyd Ferguson, who argued the rule change could "destroy farming" in Hamilton.
Federally approved medical marijuana growers, on the other hand, have lobbied for less restrictive rules, arguing pot is now recognized as an agricultural crop — and the proposed large greenhouses look no different than those allowed for cucumbers or flowers.