I cannot believe that they did it, but they did.

The City Council did not overturn the Planning Commission?s decision to allow Good Samaritan Services to convert Avenue Flower shop into a drug rehab. From the beginning, this thing did not sit right with me: I felt that it was being jammed down our collective throats. At the last second I heard that the Planning Commission was going to hear this and then wham, bam, thank you, Stan, it is happening.

The big picture first: Lompoc has a drug problem and we need this drug rehab in town. This was not an issue with folks; they know we have to skin this particular cat. The issue was with the location.

Downtown is coming back to life. We have the renovation of the Roskowsky building. The second phase of the Downtown Revitalization will start soon. There will be a restored Calvert Theater and office space and condos on Ocean and H. On Chestnut and H, you will have more condos, office and retail space. Add to this some of the best restaurants in town, such as the American Host, Penelope?s and others. And then, bam, right in the middle of this, you put a drug rehab that could be located elsewhere.

How will this affect tourism, business and city tax revenue? Because Good Samaritan is a nonprofit, it won?t have to pay any property taxes. And this is at a time when we need every penny to fund public safety, the library and other services.

I understand that Good Samaritan will have a thrift store. We already have three or four on West Ocean, and we continuously have a garbage problem behind the Women?s Shelter thrift store.

And where was the Chamber of Commerce on this? They should have stepped up to the plate Tuesday night and discussed the implications of this action; they knew this was in the works.

I did a little research on Good Sam and I found their Strategic Planning Initiative One-Year Summary Report done by the Fielding Graduate University.

Overall, they seem to be in a major expansion mode. After they set up here in Lompoc, they plan on looking to expand in San Luis. The only thing that really bothered me was where the authors stated that Good Samaritan has the propensity to Btake on too many opportunities.C

So we are now going to allow an organization to completely change an existing building, add living quarters for 10 to 20 folks, add a modular building and they have a weakness of overreaching?

Question to the planning commissioners and the City Council: Was this organization thoroughly vetted before allowing this drug rehab? The last thing Lompoc needs is another empty building.

Along with Good Samaritan, the major proponent of the drug rehab was the Lompoc Valley Recovery Task Force, which includes Joyce Howerton, Mayor Dick DeWees, Pat Brady, Chief Bill Brown, Chuck and Cindy Strange and others. They are trying to do the right thing, but did they even seek the input of the people in the affected neighborhood? I kind of don?t think so.

In the Record, Kevin Smith, Brady, Sylvia Barnard, Chief Brown and Strange all agreed that more education should have taken place before proposing this facility. If I wanted to push something through that I knew would be controversial, I would go ahead and make sure that I did everything according to regulation, but I would not go out of my way to publicize it, like have a town hall meeting and really seek input. I would push this baby forward and plead for forgiveness later. I?m not saying that this is the case, but it quacks like a duck to me.

The Planning Commission staff report states that this property is designated Neighborhood Commercial, and the stated purpose is Bby satisfying the need for convenient shopping and retail service opportunities. To provide commercial areas adjacent to residential areas which encourage pedestrian travel to meet basic commercial needs.C It then says, BThe proposed Good Samaritan Shelter will serve the existing population of the City of Lompoc and provide retail use as a component of the project.C

Let?s analyze this: B… satisfying the need for convenient shopping and retail.C What retail, another thrift store? BEncourage pedestrian travel.C How will this be encouraged?

The existing zoning is Planned Commercial Development and the proposed zoning will be Convenience Center, which is defined as BTo provide centers for convenience shopping in the residential neighborhoods planned and controlled to the extent that any such center will perform a vital service. …C

To beat a dead horse, another thrift store is a vital service!

They then say, BThe components of the proposed project are not specifically identified as conditionally permitted uses in the CC zone.C

Am I reading this right? They are going to rezone this from Planned Commercial Development to Convenience Center, and yet they say that the proposed drug rehab facility is not permitted in the newly rezoned Convenience Center! I am confused.

I even took a look at Lompoc?s General Plan, and the location of this rehab does not fit in with the plan. There are numerous conflicts. Why even have a plan or zoning regulations if you are going to constantly modify them or make exceptions?

Add to this the parking situation. The flower shop has parking for 23 cars, but the city says they need 26, yet the drug rehab will get a pass on this. That cannot sit too well with the folks over at Moore Mill and Lumber who have not been able to expand because of parking issues.

Here is some more inconsistency. The Planning Commission turned down the conditional use permit for the Victory Outreach Church on Ocean, and now the city is going to grant it for the Good Samaritan folks!

My brother recently retired from the United States Air Force after 24 years. He is here visiting for a little while, and has watched this whole process unfold. His first reaction was something like B>What are we thinking of?C by putting a drug rehab on one of our main drags.

He watched the City Council meeting and he told me afterward that after hearing the speakers and listening to the questions from the council, that this was a Bdone deal,C this appeal was not going to be considered. I think he was right.

See you next time.

Ben Hernandez is a certified financial planner practitioner and can be reached at 736-6037.