The BC Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of the City of Delta in a case involving a Ladner homeowner who wants to grow cannabis in an accessory structure and fought the validity and enforcement of bylaws that restrict the use of land zoned RS2 – Single Detached Residential 2 Zone

Gregory Nardi and Dominic Pappas also disputed the validity of city bylaws that required a building permit.

The registered owner of a house in the 5400-block of Crescent Drive, Nardi was alleged to have contravened Delta bylaws by making alterations to the workshop building without a valid and subsisting permit for that work, making such alterations contrary to the authorized descriptions, plans and specifications contained in a building permit that was obtained in July 2020 and by occupying and using the workshop for cannabis production contrary to the zoning bylaw and the terms of the permit.

Bringing forward the case against the two, the city did not dispute that Nardi used the property for personal medical cannabis production for himself and designated medical cannabis production for Pappas. It was also not disputed that Nardi undertook alterations to the workshop without a valid and subsisting permit for at least some of that work and contrary to the terms of the permit.

The respondents argued that the zoning bylaw exceeded municipal authority under the Local Government Act, are inoperative in light of the Cannabis Act and unjustifiably infringe on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

At some time between July 2020 and June 2024, Nardi began to use the workshop for the production of cannabis, but it was not alleged that the respondents were operating a commercial business.

Judicial conclusions

The respondents argued that the court should declare the impugned laws to be inconsistent with constitutional law, and sought a personal constitutional exemption under the Charter permitting their continued medical cannabis production.

The respondents were previously granted federal authorizations from Health Canada to produce cannabis for their own personal medical purposes.

Nardi admitted a permit was required for the installation of a toilet and sink in the workshop, but he also claimed all ventilation, electrical upgrades, carbon filtration and HVAC systems were installed by qualified trades using CSA-approved equipment, while any electrical permits required had been issued and closed by Technical Safety BC.

The city, which sent a bylaw enforcement officer to respond to complaints, had the position that all of the alterations required a valid and subsisting permit for the work and, while Technical Safety BC administers safety standards, it does not eliminate the need for a permit.

Upon entering the workshop, and seeing hundreds of marijuana plants, the bylaw officer observed federal personal production licences on the wall, and Nardi explained that he was also growing cannabis for his friend Pappas, whose licence allowed 117 marijuana plants, and for his brother Joseph Alain Nardi whose licence also allowed 117 plants.

Divided into several rooms, the structure had electrical and building work to modify the building for cannabis production use without permits.

In July 2024, the bylaw officer informed Nardi that cannabis production is not permitted in the RS2 zone, but a discussion would take place with staff at the planning department and see if there were options for a temporary use permit or a variance to the zoning bylaw.

However, the city determined that a temporary use permit was not a viable option and a letter was sent by mail and email, requiring that the cannabis plants be removed from the property within 30 days.

There were further discussions with Nardi involving potential options for seeking to regularize the cannabis production use on the property, such as a rezoning application. It was also confirmed that there were other areas in the city where the zoning bylaw did permit cannabis production, to which he could potentially move his production operation.

In September 2025, though, bylaw staff re-attended at the property and were advised that in the two growing rooms there were now approximately 137 plants.

There was an additional storage room and a toilet had been installed, contrary to building bylaw.

Also observed were four medical personal production licenses posted in the workshop that day. One was for Nardi for 390 plants, one for Elaheh Soltatian for 195 plants, one for Pappas for 390 plants and one for Mehdi Babaei for 390 plants. All of the licensed persons, other than Nardi, had other residential addresses.

Justice Alison M. Latimer found the impugned laws are the means of achieving the municipality’s land use objectives and do not have separate or independent objectives of nullifying reasonable medical marijuana access, including personal or designated production at a site authorized by Health Canada, and that the impugned laws merely limit the potential sites at which any type of cannabis may be grown.

It is possible for the respondents to comply with both federal and municipal laws by simply ceasing to cultivate cannabis or by relocating the production to a municipal zone in which this land use is permitted, and applying for a Personal Production Registration certificate with that new address, Latimer noted.

The court found the zoning bylaw is constitutionally valid and its application to the property does not offend the charter, nor does the fact that the respondents have commenced cultivating cannabis in breach of the bylaw give rise to an exceptional circumstance justifying their continued non-permitted use of the property.

The city was granted injunctions including requiring the respondents to cease the cannabis production use and remove all cannabis plants as well as requiring the respondents to remove the unauthorized construction elements.