This week’s San Luis Obispo County government meetings

December 4, 2023

By CalCoastNews staff

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. on Dec. 5 at the county building.

The agenda includes a discussion, Item 2, about the first quarter of fiscal year 2023-2024 and a request to approve changes for different departments. The report does not detail how major revenues such as property tax, sales tax, and hotel tax are performing. It does indicate that the sheriff’s office is likely to incur a multi-million dollar deficit due to unbudgeted raises and vacant positions that must be filled with overtime pay.

Item 15 on the agenda is a request to receive and file a report on board-identified priority projects for the Department of Planning and Building, and provide staff direction. Through this item, the board will set policy for plan development updates, major ordinance revisions and setting of overall land use policies.

This includes revisions to the Cannabis Ordinance, with the board majority wanting to allow retail cannabis stores within the unincorporated areas.

During Item 12, the board will discuss and consider approval of a new Community Advisory Council Handbook. Following the board’s vote to no longer recognize the Oceano Community Advisory Council because of unruly and disruptive meetings, the board formed an ad hoc committee of supervisors Jimmy Paulding and Dawn Ortiz Legg to standardize the 11 advisory councils around the county.

On the board’s closed session agenda, there are seven potential cases of anticipated litigation, one case of pending litigation and labor negotiations with twelve different county departments.

The Paso Robles City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Paso Robles City Library.

Item L-1 on the agenda seeks approval of changes to the Paso Robles Strategic Plan to address homelessness, at a yearly cost of $200,000. The plan includes the addition of a homeless services manager who will be responsible for completing key tasks, coordinating partnerships, and monitoring and reporting progress.

The agenda also includes further discussion on vacation rentals, Item L-2. The council will discuss eliminating, reducing or making no changes to its short-term rental wait list. Currently, there is a combined total of 418 issued short-term rental permits citywide. The total includes 325 non-hosted permits and 93 home-share permits distributed within the city.

Of the combined 418 issued permits, an average of 110 permits each year do not remit any transient occupancy tax (TOT). Permit holders are either not reporting TOT or are not using their permits. In fiscal year 2022-23, TOT from short-term rentals totaled a little more than $1.2 million.

Only two of the five city council members do not own vacation rentals and do not have a conflict of interest: councilman Fred Strong and Chris Bausch. In order to have a quorum, the other three, Mayor John Hamon and council members Sharon Roden and Steve Gregory, will draw straws with one then joining the discussion and voting on the item.

The Pismo Beach City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the City Council Chambers.

The council will introduce an ordinance approving a development agreement with Pismo Beach Self Storage under Item 11-B. In October, the council approved a settlement agreement with Pismo Beach Self Storage. Under that settlement agreement, the city is required to permit recreational vehicle parking and additional self-storage uses at the site.

Under Item 12-B, the council will consider adopting a resolution approving and appropriating budget adjustments for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The City of Pismo Beach operates on a two-year budget cycle, which allows for long-term planning, coordination of multi-year capital projects, and efficiency of staff time as budget preparation only occurs every other year.

The resolution notes mid-year budget adjustments due to $3,058,737 in additional costs in 2024, and a net cost savings of $273,279 in 2025. More than $1 million of the additional costs are related to proposed budget adjustments for technical corrections, while almost $900,000 is for lower than anticipated transient occupancy tax revenues.

The San Luis Obispo City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at City Hall.

In Item F-5, the council will discuss approval of a final tract map for a proposed 192 mixed-use development commonly know as Bullock Ranch. The development includes seven live and work units, a 585-square-foot commercial unit, onsite parking, and other residential community amenities. The final map creates a total of 14 lots on the 10.93-acre site.

The agenda also includes Item 7-A,  a presentation and study session on energy efficiency retrofit policy options for existing buildings. The council will then provide direction to staff for pursuing those options.

The city has a goal of reducing emissions from existing buildings by 50% by 2030. However, the city is unlikely to achieve that goal and asked staff to conduct a study session to look into developing a framework for cost effective building electrification retrofit policies.

The Cambria Community Services District board will meet at 1 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Cambria Veterans Hall.

The Los Osos Community Services District board will meet at 6 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the District Board Chambers.

The South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District board will meet at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the Grover Beach City Hall Council Chambers.

The San Simeon Community Services District board will meet at 6 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Coast Union Unified School District Board room.

The board is slated to discuss closing the district, Agenda Item B-1. The board will consider directing staff to start the process of dissolving the district and divesting water and sewer services to another government body, either Cambria Community Services District or SLO County.