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SLO developer proposes outdoor dining venue in shipping containers

February 1, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

Paul Tompkins of NKT Commercial has submitted plans to build an outdoor dining venue in downtown San Luis Obispo where food vendors will operate out of repurposed shipping containers.

The plans require approval of an onsite parking reduction from 40 required spaces to 16 spaces. The SLO Planning Commission will need to approve the requested parking reduction based on issues such as bike parking, employee carpooling and public transportation.

The project includes the development of an approximately 21,600-square-foot lot at the corner of Higuera and Toro streets.

Before work can start, Tompkins plans to demolish the existing two-story structure
on the site and repurpose the existing 4,208 square foot single-story structure toward the rear of the lot into a new restaurant suite.

Next, Tompkins wants to add 12 shipping containers consisting of a total of 2,720 square feet to provide for seven tenant suites, three storage rooms, one long term bike storage locker and one for restrooms.

The project will require multiple approvals before Tompkins can start construction.


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This appears to be a ploy to circumvent dining restrictions during the pandemic. If you just cut the top off of a transportainer, there will be insufficient airflow to be “outdoors” as far as COVID is concerned. The acoustics will be TERRIBLE. I was once accidentally locked in one for five minutes and cannot imagine trying to eat in such a claustrophobic space. I spent the coldest summer I ever had in Santa Barbara working in one converted to a refrigerated electronics laboratory. It’s just not a friendly space. I also believe there is a shortage of such containers at this time.


7

LOL with capital letters ….No matter how much insulation is added to a shipping container they are either freezing cold or scorching hot inside .With a 24 hour high output HVAC system they are bearable to be inside of .Most cities do not allow Shipping containers inside city limits ,but city planners in Atascadero and now SLO want them on a main street.All cities these days no matter which city is named have little or no parking , I realize cities want to force people to use public transit.. Nobody in their right mind wants to ride a city public transit especially wearing a anti-covid mask let alone the mass amounts of violence and disease inside a sardine can on wheels packed with humans .Why do cities want a 3rd world look of shipping containers on main streets ? The military was one of the first to use large quantities of shipping containers for multiple uses during war time due to ease of drop and use, plus the protection a shipping container offers from enemies


16

Hoping this is an elaborate joke….but it appears not. SMH


14

Shipping containers sound cool and they are the flavor of the day…they may look cool brand new or in artist renderings but in 10 years they will look like crap….and your city will look like the Long Beach Harbor….


24

Imagine even 15 years ago the concept that shipping containers would pass any sort of Architectural review process


24

Rather than scale back the parking, how about scaling back the project? Ridiculous to allow such exceptions that are clearly detrimental to the public.


37

That’s thinking outside the box! What . . wait.


17

This is laughable when we have such an unhoused population with no where to place them. We don’t have enough beds for every homeless individual in the city let alone county and we want to build more for the tourists to flock to? Sickening


3

Are you implying that we move the homeless living in the Santa Maria River (SLO County land) to Higuera Street? Don’t run for public office.


0

Appear to be an interesting short term project that will revitalize that area until things get better decades later. In the future this land with minor removals will then be available to build a very costly permanent structure. Short term projects are the way to go these days so that we don’t limit the future. I say do it, get it done for today and let the future have a chance too.


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