Tag archives: cannabis dispensary

On behalf of the entire ownership team, thank you to the community for supporting our application for a new cannabis retail dispensary in the Carpinteria Valley. While we recognize we have some additional hurdles to clear, we are 100% confident that Roots Carpinteria will open for business at 3823 Santa Claus Lane in 2023.  I […]

On Tuesday, November 1, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to deny an appeal of the approval of a Coastal Development Permit to operate a cannabis retail store, Roots Carpinteria, on Santa Claus Lane. The appeal was made by a group of aggrieved neighbors and the public calling themselves Preserve Access on […]

I am proud to support and endorse Dr. Charlotte Gullap-Moore for Santa Barbara City College Board Trustee TA#1. I have known Charlotte for more than four years, and in that time, I have found her to be an earnest community advocate, an honest person, and always stands up for the disenfranchised in the community. We could […]

I will not be able to attend the Santa Claus cannabis retail store appeal hearing on November 1, 2022, however I would like to convey my opposition to its approval and impending existence in this message.  Three things you should know about me before I address my reasons for concern: My family has lived, worked, […]

As members of the Santa Barbara and Tri-Counties Chapter of the United Nations Association-USA, we are frequently asked if the U.N. is still relevant and capable of carrying out its mission, and what does our organization do? Since United Nations Day is being celebrated on October 24th throughout the U.S. and the world, it is […]

Most people want to compartmentalize everything. For example, I am a Democratic, Republican, Independent, or even a Green Party person. More examples would be I am a liberal or a conservative. I saw an interview with the actor Woody Harrelson. A good ole Texas boy. He described himself as a Redneck hippie. After careful consideration […]

On Wednesday, September 7, in a 4-1 vote, Roots Carpinteria, a cannabis retail store, secured approval for a Coastal Development Permit to operate on Santa Claus Lane. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission made the decision. Luis Castañeda, director of retail operations for Roots Carpinteria, was happy with the Commission’s decision. “We are very grateful […]

In the July 14 issue of the Montecito Journal, Joe Armendariz’s letter to the editor titled “Radical Status,” contained multiple inaccurate assertions related to the application for the Radis/Roots Cannabis retail store proposed location on Santa Claus Lane, as well as misinformation concerning existing businesses there. Mr. Armendariz fails to mention that he is a […]

We live on Channel Drive in Montecito and along with the neighbors we have sent several emails regarding the lack of Sheriff’s presence since COVID and the increase of illegal activities. Last night was 4th of July and sadly Channel Drive had far fewer families enjoying the fireworks and many more people drinking, flying drones […]

In response to “Two Years Later: Still an Unfair and Forced Choice Objections to Cannabis Retail at Santa Claus Lane,” I wanted to take the opportunity to provide some actual facts about legal, compliant cannabis dispensaries. I’m three months shy of my 60th birthday and my interest in medicinal cannabis began in 2014 with my […]

Scheduling is never easy where busy people are concerned. It’s less easy when you throw stubborn or otherwise motivated people into the mix. We’ve covered this with the county’s scheduling of an important meeting on Yom Kippur regarding a permit for a cannabis dispensary on Santa Claus Lane. A meeting which has since been rescheduled […]

It’s distressing that in 2021, five years after Prop 64, that we have individuals pushing the same fear mongering about cannabis we all learned growing up with Reefer Madness. Today it’s Jana Zimmer and the writers of the Montecito Journal, along with a small number of neighbors in Carpinteria allege that the County of Santa […]

(Editor’s note: This story is updated with information attained after our print deadline for the September 9 edition of the Montecito Journal) After initially rejecting multiple requests to change an upcoming meeting pertaining to a potential Santa Claus Lane cannabis dispensary due to a conflict with Yom Kippur, the County of Santa Barbara acquiesced late […]

Readers are by now well aware of the ongoing saga involving former MJ writer Mitchell Kriegman’s explosive exposé on city hall cannabis-related corruption that ran on March 12 of this year in the Los Angeles Magazine. The star of Kriegman’s story: Anthony Wagner, spokesperson for the Santa Barbara Police Department, who also played a role […]

It’s now been two months since Los Angeles Magazine published a bombshell exposé by former Montecito Journal reporter Mitchell Kriegman claiming marijuana-related corruption inside Santa Barbara’s City Hall. At the center of Kriegman’s sprawling, roughly 4,000-word story, which the Journal declined to publish last year before Kriegman departed from the paper, was the contention that […]

On Monday, March 16, Santa Barbara Interim Police Chief Barney Melekian issued a statement responding to a March 12 Los Angeles Magazine article that raised allegations of corruption and undue influence involving Anthony Wagner, the department’s public information officer, who previously helped run the city’s cannabis dispensary licensing process. Melekian’s announcement stated that he was […]

If we’ve learned anything from the “post-truth” era in which we find ourselves, it’s that substantiated facts are critical to productive public discourse. Allegations and aspersions must be legitimately corroborated. This is the only way to emerge into what will hopefully become a post post-truth era. Across our nation there remain countless fires still smoldering […]

This week I’m taking the opportunity to sound off from my soapbox, since the lead item on the Summerland’s popularity vote “yea” or “nay” for a cannabis dispensary in town, which ran a few weeks ago, created quite a little stir that resulted in three letters to the editor printed over three issues. First, I […]