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Grover Beach citizens’ initiative to limit building heights moves forward

April 20, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

A group of Grover Beach residents collected 60% more signatures than required for a petition aimed at limiting building heights in the coastal community.

The group’s goal is to limit the height of new buildings in commercial zones to 40 feet and in industrial zones to 33 feet. The plan is to preserve Grover Beach’s small-town coastal character.

Proponents of the “Citizen’s Initiative Measure to Limit Building Heights and to Establish a Minimum Commercial Component of 33% in Mixed-Use Developments” submitted 1,256 signatures to the Grover Beach City Clerk on Monday morning.

To place the initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot, the petition needed 793 signatures from Grover Beach voters. The city clerk has 30 business days to verify that there are at least 793 valid signatures.

After the signatures are verified, the Grover Beach City Council can either adopt the initiative or put it on the 2026 ballot.

“Even we were surprised at how many signatures we got in a reduced timeline,” former Mayor Ron Arnoldsen said. “The people of Grover Beach have spoken.”

 


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The nimbys have spoken.


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Nothing to do with nimby. The committee is not hindering building new homes or businesses, just the design of them.


Pismo is a good example. People kept building larger and taller homes further up the hillsides, to take full advantage of the coastal view…to the detriment of the view of the hillsides. Also, look at the old hotels/motels on the cliffs. They are low level, until you get to the new ones, which blot out the setting sun.


Same as in Morro Bay, Cayucos, and Cambria.


SLO, fortunately, still has the law on the books….for now….that prohibit building anything above the brushline, and that keeps our hills from being covered in vanity. But that doesn’t apply to the downtown, which now has massive hotels and parking structures, that bathe the city center in shadow.


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