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The California Coastal Commission last week scolded the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning and Building for willfully disregarding permit requirements on development applications in Los Osos despite insufficient groundwater to support them.
"It appears that the County’s disregard of permit requirements is “knowing and intentional,” said Dan Carl, director of the Central Coast District for the Coastal Commission.
"There is insufficient water supply to serve even existing development in Los Osos without coastal resource harm (including where an over-drafted groundwater basin can adversely impact sensitive natural resources such as wetlands and marshes, coastal streams and adjacent riparian areas, and marine habitats, as well as adversely impact coastal priority uses such as agriculture and lower-cost visitorserving development), let alone adding to it new water using development," Carl said in the letter.
In recent years, county planners have approved at least 10 projects the Coastal Commission says local officials knew didn't meet groundwater requirements.
Carl said this gave the applicants "false hope," leading to appeals to the Coastal Commission for their approval. One project has been rejected with four other appeals pending. Five of the applicants have withdrawn their appeal.
As a result, county planning director Trevor Keith issued a memorandum, emphasizing that planners would not entertain applications for development on undeveloped lots in the Los Osos Sewer Service Area, nor applications for accessory dwelling units.
Applications can still be made for "New residential additions, remodels, guesthouses, and other water-neutral development/land uses on lots with existing single-family dwellings within the Los Osos Sewer Service Area."
"The Department appreciates and shares the Coastal Commission’s concerns regarding groundwater sustainability in Los Osos," Keith wrote in the memo.
A copy of the county memo and the Coastal Commission's letter can be read HERE.
