The opening comes after three years of renovation of the former West Marine headquarters, which have been vacant since the boating chain's relocation to Florida in 2021.
While the board and its staff celebrated some of its achievements this past year, the specter of a major statewide budget deficit and the millions the county is still owed in disaster response reimbursements pointed to a future chock full of tough decisions.
"A decade ago, Santa Cruz County faced pressure from the cannabis industry to commercialize rural properties for cannabis cultivation," writes David Rubin in a Guest Commentary. "The county conducted five years of review, relying on the C4 committee (local experts in cultivation and land use) and numerous public hearings."
"I appreciate the answers we received after postponing the items on March 26 and I feel more comfortable now with the facts at hand as presented here (and) also at the RTC meeting of April 18," said Supervisor Bruce McPherson.
The board, acting as the local lead for the project, previously reviewed the segments at its March 26 meeting and while it approved a series of environmental documents, it declined to move forward with the project itself, citing concerns about tree removal and cost overruns and asked its staff to explore ways to limit both.