CompleteIssueSLOLifeDecJan18LR

| TIMELINE
Around the County
10/3
The plan to clean up Pirate’s Cove, which received unanimous
support from SLO County’s Board of Supervisors just two
weeks prior, was thwarted by the Coastal Commission over
concerns that banning vehicles after dark would limit coastal
access. Long identified as a problem spot by law enforcement
officials, locals have been pressuring supervisors to improve
and maintain the prized seaside real estate. Following the
decision, it was determined that John Peschong and Adam
Hill would meet with the Coastal Commission in an effort to
work out a compromise and begin taking basic steps toward
improvement, such as developing the parking lot, constructing
bathrooms, and adding trash cans.
OCTOBER ’17
10/24
In a rare win for a San Luis Obispo neighborhood on the north side of
town, the SLO City Council, by a 5-0 vote, agreed to leave “the poles” in
place and continue to keep Luneta Drive closed to through traffic. The site
of the closure, which long-time residents describe as a de facto pocket park,
is next to the controversial new development known as 71 Palomar, where
El Segundo-based attorney Loren Riehl had received the city’s blessing
to build a 33-unit apartment building. A group of neighbors identifying
themselves as Friends of 71 Palomar filed suit against the project on
environmental grounds, but lost the decision. Riehl is also the developer of
22 Chorro, another controversial project a few blocks away.
10/19
A group calling itself Preserve the SLO Life banded together
with the homeowners’ associations at the Los Verdes Park
complex near the corner of South Higuera and Los Osos
Valley Road to sue the developer of Avila Ranch, as well as
the City of San Luis Obispo, over the anticipated negative
impacts to the area, including increased noise, traffic, light,
and air pollution that are expected to come with the 720-
home project proposed by builder Andy Mangano. The
development was approved by the city council a month earlier
and would occupy 150 acres on Buckley Road on the south
end of town, an area that is currently farmland. Although
championed as a prime example of adding workforce housing
by city officials, only 25 of the 720 units will actually achieve
that designation.
10/23
Administrators at the County of San Luis Obispo revealed
an $8 to $10 million accounting error stating that instead of a
$3 to $5 million surplus, it was actually facing a $4.8 million
deficit to next year’s budget forecast. Characterizing it as
a “straight-up human error,” county budget director Emily
Jackson attributed the miscalculation to her office’s failure to
account for a significant portion of recently approved salary
increases that had not been accounted for in the new budget.
Despite the error, Jackson claimed that the county was “wellpositioned
to address the gap” and that the deficit represented
less than 1% of the general fund, which was estimated to
reach $525 million in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
10/25
Once again—for the eighth time in a matter of six years—a group of
off-road enthusiasts identifying themselves as Friends of the Oceano
Dunes sued over dust control efforts in the riding area. Citing concern
that the Coastal Commission’s “radical” five-year plan would harm
endangered species and failed to accept adequate public input, the group’s
72-page complaint also named the Department of Parks and Recreation,
San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District, California Air
Resources Board, San Luis Obispo County, and the City of Grover Beach
as defendants in the suit. A few weeks later, outgoing head of the San
Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District, Larry Allen, citing a public
nuisance to people living on the Nipomo Mesa, requested that a portion
of the dunes be closed to off-road riding. [turn to page 40 for more on
this issue]
36 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | DEC/JAN 2018