Running the bureaucratic gauntlet in San Simeon

July 30, 2024

OPINION by HANK KRZCIUK

Bob Hather, an individual property owner in San Simeon, has been trying to get a permit to build 15 lower-cost condominiums in San Simeon.

In 2022, after years of trying, he took San Simeon Community Services District to federal court and successfully obtained a will-serve letter. Then, he went to the county that had him go through a multitude of expensive studies. After he had completed the required county studies, he was then denied his permit by the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission.

The California Coastal Commission and other agencies had begun asking endless questions and demanding more studies and CEQA approval of San Simeon CSD to end an unwarranted moratorium – running the bureaucratic gauntlet.

To put this matter into perspective, these new smaller condominiums are expected to use (based on state study data) 58 gallons per day per housing unit because they will have new water-efficient fixtures and appliances. On average, these 15 units will consume 870 gallons of water daily.

A single San Simeon well produces 300 gallons per minute, so these 15 condominiums will require the well to run three additional minutes daily.

The district presently produces 68,742 gallons per day on average by running a 300 gallons per minute for one well for 3.82 hours. These 15 new housing units will add just three minutes of pumping time.

It appears Hather’s only recourse is to sue and prove beyond any reasonable doubt with multiple agencies and likely in federal and state courts and with multiple studies that three minutes of additional pumping from one well will not destroy all creatures in or around Pico Creek and its lagoon.

Note: They have lots of water, and additional pumping for managed development will not impact the habitat. Prior district management had grossly exaggerated future water usage.

Most recently, the Coastal Commission and SLO County said they would approve construction if they were official low-cost housing units. Hather is not a non-profit organization or a large contractor that can afford to subsidize low-cost housing and do all the special analysis, reporting, and management associated with low-cost housing.

If the county had a retrofit-to-build two-one offset program for San Simeon, as they do in Los Osos, there would be no additional water use from any new development.

And so it goes for just three minutes of additional pumping a day, the same amount of time Hather and the public are allowed to comment at the meetings of these bureaucratic agencies.

Just putting things in perspective.