Citing confusion over the status of a lease agreement, Santa Barbara County’s Planning Commission postponed a Sept. 9 ruling on a permit for a proposed medicinal marijuana dispensary in unincorporated Orcutt.
The commission will take up the issue again on Oct. 21. According to Planner Joyce Gerber, the delay will give the commission time to determine whether a valid lease exists for the project’s rental space and to review changes to the dispensary’s business model.
“We do have a signed lease agreement and normally we don’t get involved in civil matters here in Planning,” Gerber said. “We’ll just have to look into it.”
Attorney William Wolf received approval on July 14 for the land-use permit to open the dispensary, known as the Wellness Center, in Old Town Orcutt’s Trade Center.
The property’s owner, Greti Croft, said she told Wolf at the time that she would lease the office space to him unless her other tenants objected. They did, and Croft said she canceled the lease and returned Wolf’s first and last month’s rent and deposit.
Calls to Wolf and project agent Jackie Rodriguez weren’t returned as of press time.
The commission’s ruling is the latest chapter in the battle over the dispensary. On July 27, neighbors and tenants of the Trade Center filed an appeal against the Wellness Center’s permit, led by members of the Orcutt American Legion Post 534.
Opponents cited the federal illegality of medicinal marijuana dispensaries, the potential for increased drug use and crime, close proximity to schools, and a negative impact on the character of the community as reasons for the appeal. Despite the objections, Planning Commission staffers recommended the commission deny the appeal.
“They met all of our ordinance requirements, all the Comprehensive Plan and the Orcutt Community Plan policies,” Gerber said. “We don’t have an ordinance to prohibit it.”
To complicate matters for the commission, a revised business plan submitted Sept. 2 raised the minimum age requirement for dispensary clients from 18 to 30 and eliminated on-site sales of all of its products, including marijuana.
Under the new plan, prescription orders for marijuana would only be accepted over the phone and delivered to patients.
However, until controversy over the lease agreement is cleared up, the debate remains a moot point.
Trade Center’s Croft, a 66-year-old former professor and natural healer, said she supports medical use of marijuana if it’s done the right way, but doesn’t think the community is ready for a dispensary.
“I believe that marijuana has a place in medical health,” Croft said. “But it should be like a pharmacy or in someplace that’s safe, not out there in Old Orcutt.
“If my tenants don’t want it, that’s enough for me,” she added.
This article appears in Sep 17-24, 2009.