June 9,2015-
The Port of San Luis proposed Harbor Terrace project,a 32-acre camping, cabin and RV-use facility on Avila Bay faces an appeal from a local citizen at the SLO Board of Supervisors meeting June 16.
The proposed visitor facility that would hug the hillside overlooking Port San Luis, was approved in an unanimous decision by the county planning commission in March.
The big development is touted as an “affordable,low-cost option” for visitors to come to SLO County. Proponents argue establishing an RV park will remove RVs from Avila Beach Drive where they park currently. In addition they say the project to be built on already disturbed land will have little negative impact while providing multiple benefits. The project displaces an older trailer park, The idea has been in the works since at least 1988.
Most recently Harbor Terrace EIR was certified in January of this year after the Harbor Commission in December approved Homefed Corp as the developer and potential operator of the visitor-oriented overnight park.
But in April, Avila Bay resident Michael Kidd filed an appeal that will now be heard suggesting “the severity of the drought” in California and locally make it clear, he argues, that the project “should be postponed.” He cites the fact that Lopez Lake has less than 20,000 acre ft and is “dropping daily.”
Kidd also points to the need to update the Avila Community Plan before such a project is approved and notes that other nearby “mega resorts” are in the works and wonders about the cumulative impacts.
Lastly Kidd says the traffic study is inadequate given the holiday traffic issues. Also raising some questions is the Avila Valley Advisory Council wondering if a geotechnical study should be done first, noting no study of how many trucks trips are required and questioning if RVs will be off of Avila Beach Dr.
Among those supporting the project are the San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper organization – cheering the fact the project has been downsized and lauding its plan to protect the watershed. Also backing Harbor Terrace is the Port San Luis Fisherman with the idea that more local caught fish will be sold . They say the visitor complex will also support of the harbor district financially helping to pay for the infrastructure that the fishermen depend on.
The Harbor Terrace project would include a range of low-cost overnight accommodations including 80 recreational vehicle (RV) sites, 15 RV/RV cabins, 35 car/tent campsites, 21 walk-in/bike-in campsites, and 31 cabin/bungalow/yurt-type units. The project will also include 16,000 square feet of visitor serving commercial uses, harbor uses (e.g. trailer boat storage, marine gear storage, harbor storage area, expansion area and 6,000 square feet for future harbor use building), restrooms, and 48,000 square feet of parking. Additional features include on-site paths between parking areas and campsites; an accessible ramp between the commercial use and pool area and the proposed crosswalk across Avila Beach Drive; a check-in station near the primary entrance, and trash and recycling enclosure within a screening wall and swinging doors.