400 River Road
Salinas, CA
93908
1/12/2024 Page 1of 2 Thomas Wiles
City of Salinas, Community Development Dept.
65 West Alisal Street
Salinas, CA 93901
re: Concerns regarding proposed "use" change for 1228 S. Main Street, Salinas Dear Mr. Wiles,
Please accept this letter of concern regarding a proposed use change for the property at 1228 S. Main Street, from a furniture and appliance store to the retail sales of cannabis. Please let this letter be made matter or record and included in any and all studies and/or reports pertaining to this matter.
Upon returning home from a trip yesterday, I received a notice in the mail of a public hearing that was held on 1/10/2023 that I was obviously unaware of and therefore unable to attend. Regardless, I do feel I have cause for concern regarding the proposed use change for 1228 S. Main St. from a furniture store to a commercial cannabis dispensary that was discussed at that hearing for the following reasons:
I am the owner of 1250 S. Main St., (the property adjacent to 1228 S. Main St.), currently home to Elli's Restaurant (my tenant). I was somewhat surprised that the neighbors and businesses immediately surrounding 1228 S. Main St. did not receive notice of this proposal at an earlier stage of this process ~ by either the city or Canna Cruz Inc., in an attempt to solicit input or concerns, however I can only hope there is still ample time to discuss and influence this matter as it progresses. I would also like to ask if perhaps future correspondence regarding this matter could be shared via a more dependable and transparent means (ie: email, certified mail, etc...) vs normal U.S. Mail?
Although I admittedly know little about the cannabis industry or the inherent problems that might align with such a business, I do share the concerns of both the residents and the other businesses near this building as this location is surrounded by a very residential and family orientated demographics. It is within walking distance of a high school and a very large church as well as being at the entrance to our city from the Monterey-Salinas Hwy 68 corridor. These factors all contribute to the success and patronage of Ellis Restaurant, a very family orientated and targeted establishment therefore we do, if nothing else, question if and how that atmosphere might be effected by the inclusion of a cannabis dispensary being located at such a prominent gateway to our city, surrounded by such family defined ingredients.
Another concern stems from a parking dilemma that Ellis continues to battle daily. Although the Elli's parking lot is in fact owned by me and clearly marked with signage depicting " For Elli's Customers Only", we have no means of controlling who parks in that lot, many of which are not in fact Elli's customers. Many park in that lot when patronizing the several other businesses surrounding the lot itself. Although 1228 does have a separate parking lot, the entrance to that lot is extremely difficult to locate and enter off S. Main Street. [email protected]
(831)455-3180 office
(831)809-2919 cell
(831) 455-1902 FAX
Concerns regarding proposed "use" change for 1228 S. Main Street, Salinas continued: Page 2 of 2 We have actually witnessed on several occasions, furniture store customers parking in the Elli's parking lot, clearly thinking it was the entrance/parking for the furniture store, and crossing over the landscaping to frequent the furniture store. Although not ideal, these occurrences seemed minimal in our opinion, based on the traffic the furniture store actually created however we have little doubt that a cannabis dispensary will increase that traffic greatly and therefore increase the negative impact on the parking for Ellis.
Finally, as Ellis closes late in the evening during darkness, several of the Ellis employees have voiced a concern for their safety when leaving the restaurant with a cannabis business next door. Again having not not investigated such matters surrounding the cannabis business, we neither agree nor disagree with these concern however we would be remiss if we did not share such concerns for the safety of these individuals.
At this time, we would ask that you please contact us regarding our above concerns. I am hoping you can direct us to where we might be able to review the comments and concerns of others that have shown support or opposition to this project.
We would also like to discuss possible mitigations that might address our above parking concerns as currently, access to the 1228 S. Main St. property from our dedicated parking lot is obvious and unrestricted.
This access could perhaps be eliminated and/or restricted to address our concerns for both parking and security reasons.
I look forward to speaking with you regarding this matter.
Respectfully Submitted,
Charlie Sammut