COUNTY STARTS POT RULES VISION QUEST

Staffers Select Only Seven Potential Storefront Sites

With the county's two-year moratorium on new medical marijuana
storefronts soon to expire, Planning and Development staffers held a
public workshop this week to unveil their current zoning proposal for
where exactly any would-be cannabis club storefronts could open in
the future. Interestingly enough, despite the lawsuit-filled
controversy that followed the City of Santa Barbara during and after
its efforts to craft a similar policy in recent years, the county's
workshop late Monday afternoon featured an audience of only three
(this reporter included) and virtually zero public input.

Specifically, the proposal - which, up until this point, was cobbled
together after input from the Sheriff's Department, Environmental
Health, County Counsel, and others - calls for dispensary storefronts
to be allowed only in areas already zoned for general commercial
business that have a minimum buffer of 1,000 feet between them and
any school, park, or daycare center. Further buffer requirements
include a 300-foot minimum from any residential zone, a 100-foot
minimum distance from any legal dwelling, and a 1,500-foot minimum
between any club and any other cannabis storefront. According to
county staff, after running these requirements through current maps,
only seven potential sites exist within the county, including spots
in Vandenberg Village, eastern Goleta, the unincorporated west end of
Santa Barbara, New Cuyama, and Orcutt. As for existing clubs that
predate the moratorium, there is no proposed "grandfather" language,
and, as such, each store! front will have to apply for legal
nonconforming status on an individual basis with county planners.

The matter is scheduled for further discussion and a possible vote at
the County Planning Commission on September 7.