Chamber Questions

By Ted Ehring

The sales tax revenue from Measure C should be spent on continued upgrade, repair and improvement of the city's infrastructure. Within the central area of downtown Pismo Beach Mixed-Use (MU) zone I will continue to strive for maximum street level commercial retail. Parking will have to be supplied by the owner/applicant as per the ordinances. Allowed but not generally acceptable are in lieu fees.

Answer: Continue to upgrade, repair and improve the city's infrastructure.

In order of priority:

1.Repair Pismo Beach's storm drains.
2.Continue to pave and repair streets and sidewalks.
3.Continue to repair and replace staircases down to Pismo Beaches.
4.Continue to upgrade and maintain Pismo Beach City parks, beaches and buildings.
5.Matching funds (35%) remediation of specific bluff erosion sites where public facilities are endangered such as sewer lift stations, pipelines and City Park land.
6.Under grounding of utility lines on main streets to entice PG&E to invest Prop 20 funding in our community.
7.In the future if the Citizens are willing we can dedicate the funds to pay off municipal bonds for a specific project.

Question #2. What are your thoughts regarding present and future commercial and mixed-use development in Pismo Beach?

Answer:

I will continue to strive for maximum street level commercial retail and business space. The parking should be required as per usage by the owner/applicant. I am not in favor of in lieu fees because the City cannot find property to purchase with those funds and is prevented from investing those funds to make sufficient revenue to keep current with inflation or devaluation of the dollar. I believe that the market place will decide what type of structure can be built and if it can support subterranean parking. Hotels, such as the Beach Walk, can pencil out underground parking. The Coastal Commission has approved that project. Smaller projects may have to scale down or band together and combine for more marketable space.

Within the MU area I believe that "Vacation Rentals" are commercial. I do not favor Form Based Planning where the Government tells the private landowner what size and type of business he may have on his lot. Therefore it is difficult to regulate the height of buildings in a particular zone. Mixed Use will regulate staggered height for some time since some people want to live in single-family residences down town. Thus their structure will generally remain at 25 feet or lower. The Coastal Commission has set the height of structures at 35 feet and it will be difficult to change that; we will be working on the General Plan Update this coming year.

It is hard to visualize the downtown Pismo area drawing back the type of business that residents will shop in. Those retail outlets have been driven out of downtown to the Five Cities and Orchard and now to Wal-Mart mall in Arroyo Grande. Farther the Irish Hills and Madonna shopping malls provide the merchandise residents desire. As the price of real estate downtown increases the up scaling of merchandising will have to increase due to cost of land, construction and rent. Up scale shops may come into being in hotel lobbies as in the past.

Restaurant Row continues to attract the resident Community but increase in size of individual establishments is doubtful because of limited parking space. However, evening dinning has ample parking within walking distance.

The only way I can visualize that a parking structure can be built is by demonstrating that revenue can be achieved by paid parking and forming a special taxing district for bonding purposes. I am against the taking of private property by eminent domain and doubt if we could under the new laws.