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SLO County may allow landowners to rent out campsites

October 13, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

San Luis Obispo County is considering changes to its camping ordinance that would allow property owners to rent out camping facilities on their land. [Tribune]

Proposed changes to the county ordinance would allow for permanent or temporary camping facilities on privately owned residential, agricultural and rural properties as small as one acre. A one-acre parcel could accommodate up to two campsites, and parcels of 30 acres of more could contain up to 15 campsites, according to the draft rule changes.

Additionally, the proposed rule changes would allow property owners to list their facilities on the popular campsite rental platform Hipcamp.

Supervisor John Peschong raised the potential camping ordinance changes earlier this year after trying to assist a Cambria property owner, who was ordered to stop operating a campground.

In August, code enforcement officials ruled a campground located on a hill above Cambria’s East Village was illegal. During the Aug. 5 hearing, the county asked Cambria landowner Michael “Buddy” Campo to stop operating his 4.12-acre property located at 2705 Main Street as a campground. Officials also ordered Campo to remove electrical, plumbing and gas connections. Campo’s property is now listed for sale with an asking price of nearly $1.9 million.

The board of supervisors will likely discuss the proposed camping ordinance changes during a Nov. 16 hearing about the board’s 2022 agenda.


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We have better Code Enforcement Officers than we ever have. But quite frankly if this Camping ordinance is passed by the Board of Supervisors, the Code Enforcement Officers would not be able to handle the additional work. With the work load they are currently dealing with it would be an “accident waiting to happen.” They are currently working with a property owner in the Los Berros Canyon (Arroyo Grande) who has allowed illegal camping, with limited sanitary facilities, on their property for years. And this is not the only one they are dealing with. These property owners have gone before the 3/26/2021 County Hearing Officer and Cannabis Abatement Hearing Board and were cited. https://slocounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?meta_id=402695 . But once cited the issue is not corrected immediately. It is a slow process to get the property owners to comply. Knowing that Code Enforcement is already impacted with their current case load, I would imagine unscrupulous property owners would take advantage of this fact. If they are allowed two, why not four. Who is going to stop them?


3

This will need access requirements to not encroach on privacy. Example: the driveway through your property may serve as access for a neighbor, so how would that imply campers too?.


3

Only if it’s allowed everywhere in SLO-county, i.e. city of SLO! RV parking isn’t just for the financially wealthy.


8

Interesting. Duvall has some land that he allows people to live on, the requirements are they need to be sober, work, and pay a small amount and the country has been harassing him for years. Now county wants to allow campers on private property. Hasn’t anyone seen how the homeless leave the homeless camps full of trash and our tax dollars pays for the cleanup. If we had a kid that sat on the sofa daily, got high, did not want to work we would not tolerate it. Why would you want to reward the majority of homeless, that get high, lay around, and will not work. Now the homeless have the ACLU suing because they should be allowed to steal grocery carts, leave trash everywhere, and certainly not do any minor chores at the shelter and basically do what they want where they want. Something is wrong with this mindset.


28

The commenters on this site are hilarious! You all are against any sort of government mandate for masks or vaccines to stop COVID, but then you all freak out when there is a proposal to eliminate a restrictive governmental infringement on the liberties of property owners to do what they want with their own property. You can’t have it both ways. Do you want more or less government in your lives? P.S. Which do you think will end up killing more people in this county: these campsites or COVID?


-13

Brush up on your property rights. They are not absolute. The state retains police power, i.e., land use controls, as well as, taxation, escheat and eminent domain. Ever since 1215 and Magna Carta.


-9

Hmm…, I’ll look again but I don’t recall reading anyone’s take on this that property rights are absolute and lack any restraint whatsoever. On the contrary, I would venture to guess that most people would feel allowing some camping, in the appropriate context, with reasonable expectations and regulations seems, well, reasonable.


You on the other hand clearly need to brush up on the 5th amendment of the US Constitution and case law on the subject. So let’s start with the basics, our rights come from our creator, NOT GOVERNMENT.


4

Yeahh… the point of my comment went right over your head. Read it again carefully and maybe you’ll get it. I’m well aware that the government does not grant absolute property rights.


-4

By the way, Buddy Campo gave up the fight in Cambria, sold the property, and high-tailed it to Tennessee where he has large acreage and a beautiful lake and SLO County has been removed from his butt.


19

Buddy’s property is back on the market with a price reduction .


5

Tennessee may become a purple state after all, if Californians keep moving there


7

Any property owner thinking of doing this should take a drive over to Palisades Ave in Los Osos first…..


20

Palisades Ave in Los Osos is affectionately known as Camp Gibson!!!


8

I really liked the photograph accompanying this article. It is the vision of the future.


7
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