e-Insider
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It all started with the best of intentions. The County Board of Supervisors asked staff to come up with a new Events Ordinance to make it fairer, simpler and more efficient to get permission to hold events on rural property. Many agriculturists in the county rent their property for weddings and other special events and this income is sometimes key to their economic survival. These special events in turn support an entire industry of small businesses from florists to photographers, DJs to motels. But somewhere in the public review and hearing process, the original intent was lost and that the ordinance, if passed in its current form, would make it more difficult or even impossible to have events on rural land.
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The Council unanimously approved a plan to enhance the city’s economic development program and turn it more towards encouraging development of head-of-household jobs. The first steps include programs to build a more positive “open for business” image through a revised website, gathering data on current industry clusters and opportunities, and working with the Chamber in a new collaboration with the County, Cuesta and Cal Poly. This will form the foundation of an expanded program that might include incentives for companies to develop primary jobs here. |
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Chamber member Steve Hearst, who’s Vice-President and General Manager of the Western Properties of the Hearst Corporation, has been honored by the California Travel Industry Association for his “embodiment of the sprit and essence of the American West, his passion for the land, and his commitment to protect the environment for future generations.” Among Hearst’s many accomplishments, he spearheaded and shepherded the Hearst Ranch Conservation Project, a 2005 Chamber-supported effort that the New York Times called, “…one of the largest and most complex land conservation agreements in U.S. history.” Congratulations, Steve. |
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After nine years as City Manager and 20 years after joining the City of San Luis Obispo, Ken Hampian is retiring at the end of the year. He plans to remain in the community and pursue other interests, including consulting and writing. The City will conduct an open recruitment process to seek his successor, the first open recruitment for the role since John Dunn was hired.
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Reports from knowledgeable insiders indicate that national chain Chipotle Mexican Grill will take over much of the ground floor of the Wineman Hotel building at Higuera and Chorro. This key location was formerly the home of Sports Authority, Copelands Sports, Riley’s Department Store and Carpenter’s Rexall. Chipotle Grill is a fast growing chain that features “Food With Integrity… things like unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised...” The building is being seismically retrofitted and restored by Vahdani Construction which also holds a 35-year lease on the building. The upper floors will be subleased to the Housing Authority of the City of SLO for Section 8 housing. |
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Insiders reports that several recent sales of downtown SLO commercial properties have been at or near their 2007 price peak. One 5,000 square foot building just sold for about $425 per square foot. At the market’s highest point, downtown buildings were selling for between $400 and $500 per square foot. Outside of the downtown, commercial properties have slipped 5-15 percent in value. That’s modest in comparison to other coastal communities that have seen commercial values drop up to 30 percent. |
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Hardly anyone is happy about SLO’s 2.2 percent decline in tourism so far this year. However, the latest report on California tourism issued by national data firm STR should give us some solace. SLO’s “revPAR” (total room revenue divided by available rooms) dropped 4.9 percent, the first drop we’ve had in years. But that looks really good compared to Santa Rosa, down 24 percent, Monterey, down 18 percent, or Santa Barbara, down 14 percent. We also had the 2nd lowest decline in occupancy (-2.7 percent) of the 14 California cities in the report. Santa Rosa was down 16 percent, Napa Valley dropped 11 percent, Monterey fell 11 percent and Santa Barbara was off 9 percent. |
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The City Council faced some awesome challenges going into this year’s budget preparation: Mostly because of the softening economy, council members needed to close an $11.3 million dollar budget gap (more than 12 percent of their budget) at a time when almost everyone wants more from city government. Fourteen public meetings, very professional staff support and some gutsy decision making all contributed to the last night’s passage of a responsible and balanced two-year budget. There will be 27 fewer city positions (but only one layoff), some major fee increases (ouch!), more resources for economic development (yippee!) and some capital projects will be delayed. The council made the tough decisions that will preserve vital services and keep the city financially strong. The vote was 4-1 (Settle no). |
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Insiders who have gotten a look at the preliminary results from a large survey of local air travelers are surprised at how many business air travelers don’t use SLO airport. More than 2,000 frequent air travelers responded to the survey over the last four weeks. About 58 percent said they don’t use SLO airport and primarily fly out of LAX or San Jose. The primary reason: SLO needs more frequent flights to more destinations. More than 100 of this sample of frequent fliers said they take 80 or more trips a year. Respondents indicated that Denver, Sacramento and Seattle were the new destinations needed most and said they would take 4,900 trips to Denver (mostly connecting to other cities) if that service were offered. When the final results are released later in June they should provide important ammunition for the Chamber’s and EVC’s ongoing efforts to get expanded service here. |
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Insiders report that Daylight Home and Garden wants to open up a second store in the now-vacant Cuesta Cadillac location at 1701 Monterey St. Owner John Billings has reportedly had this two-acre site with its 11,000 square feet of indoor sales space on his radar for years. The financial terms with the owners have been worked out, but he still needs city planning approval for this non-conforming use. |
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