Two cannabis projects that generated stiff neighborhood opposition in the western Carpinteria Valley — a “grow” on Foothill Road that was in bankruptcy and a cannabis dispensary that never got off the ground on Santa Claus Lane — were quietly abandoned for good this fall.
Island Breeze Farms, a cannabis greenhouse operation at 3376 Foothill Road, and The Roots pot shop that was planned for 3823 Santa Claus Lane, represent the latest evidence of the boom-to-bust dynamic that has plagued the cannabis industry in Santa Barbara County since its inception, seven years ago.
Amid a glut of cannabis on the market in California — with illegal pot making up more than half of sales — legal growers, who must pay local and state taxes and regulatory costs, have found it harder to survive…