An emotional Mayor Dave Romero made the motion last night to approve staff’s plan to begin a significant downtown beautification program.

Romero, along with the SLO Chamber, had been pushing this for years and had made it the focal point of his last campaign.

The council unanimously allocated $640,000 to improve three blocks on Higuera Street from Morro to Broad streets with new sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, trees, news racks and trash receptacles along with some major maintenance improvements.

These upgrades are essential if SLO is to remain competitive as a shopping and tourism destination.