NO POT IN ORCUTT

There will be no medical-marijuana dispensary in an Old Town Orcutt
building despite approval from Santa Barbara County, the building's
owner said Tuesday.

Neighbors and local business owners grew concerned when they received
a letter late last week stating that the county had approved a
land-use permit for the dispensary on West Clark Avenue.

At the time of the permit approval, Wellness Center Commercial Center
had a lease agreement or approval from Orcutt Trade Center owner Greti
Croft, according to county planning documents.

Once notices were delivered, Croft said, she was deluged with phone
calls from her tenants and fellow Orcutt residents.

The space at 125 W. Clark Avenue is zoned for general commercial, and
a marijuana dispensary falls under that category, which is why the
permit was approved by a county staff planner instead of going before
the Planning Commission.

But Croft said that once she realized her new tenant would be a
marijuana dispensary, she canceled the agreement.

It was misrepresentation," she said, explaining that she wasn't aware
that marijuana would be sold. "I am against it 100 percent," Croft
added.

With the economy, we have two empties, which has never happened
before, so this was really convenient, but a dispensary is not worth
the cost to the community," Croft said vehemently.

The dispensary would have been located on the ground floor of the
Orcutt Trade Center, situated across from a stained-glass store and
behind a frame shop.

The retail and office complex is flanked by the American Legion Orcutt
Post 534 and Orcutt Aquarium, and it faces the side of Revival
Tabernacle, a Pentecostal church.

There are professional people and retail businesses here," said Sheri
Gasser, owner of Victorian Stained Glass Works. "I called the landlord
because I didn't think it would be a good fit."

Maggie McKay of Maggie's Meticulous Mat and Frame Shop said, "I'm
concerned. Not adamantly opposed, but concerned."

Both business owners said while they appreciated the benefits of the
drug, it was the societal side-effects that concerned them.

Last year, Buellton, Santa Maria and other Central Coast cities passed
ordinances that at least temporarily prohibited the establishment of
storefront medical marijuana dispensaries, but Orcutt is under Santa
Barbara County jurisdiction.

Supervisor Joni Gray, whose district includes Orcutt, said she had
contacted the county's attorneys to see if an ordinance banning pot
clinics would be possible.

The dispensary's permit is site specific, meaning if Croft has
terminated the lease agreement, it cannot open in another location
without an additional permit application.

The Planning and Development Department had not heard from the
applicant or Croft as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, so for questions about
appealing the permit, contact the department at 934-6291 before Friday.

This is the second medicinal marijuana dispensary to seek a home in
Orcutt in the past three months; the first was called Wishing You
Wellness, located in the Evergreen Shopping Center.