Like an arrestee when handcuffs are finally removed, Los Osos and SLO County are starting the process to rub out the soreness from over three decades of zero growth that has handcuffed development, but is only weeks away from setting a growth limit for the South Bay.
It’s the latest milestone in a year that saw the County finally finish work on updating the Los Osos Community Plan that was begun in 1996, with the Coastal Commission certifying the document, which is essentially the “general plan” for just Los Osos, in June.
The Planning Department has proposed language for what amounts to an amendment to its growth ordinance (Title 26), a document that spends a lot of time dealing with growth in Nipomo and Cambria, and adds for the first time language that will allow for growth in Los Osos.
Los Osos had been under a “sewer moratorium” since 1988. The completion of the community sewer system and treatment plant in 2016, removed the largest obstacle to development in town. But the County also had to deal with the water supply, and a “Level 3 Severity” designation for over drafting of the groundwater basin, a declaration that dated back to the mid-1990s.
Groundwater is Los Osos’ sole source of drinking water and the water companies — the Community Services District, Golden State Water, and S&T Mutual — along with SLO County have been working to address over-drafting and seawater intrusion into the basin.
Meanwhile, the County went to work to address the Level 3 issue at least on paper, using projects outlined in a “Basin Management Plan” to justify removing the wall that has kept Los Osos frozen in time, with vacant property owners unable to develop their lots.
This next move should allow for some growth, but it won’t be much to start with, as there are naturally a few catches. Page 12 of the document reads, “This section applies to projects within the Los Osos Urban Reserve Line whose land use permits are accepted for processing or approved on or after the effective date of this section, November 29, 2024.
“In accordance with the California Coastal Commission certification of the Local Coastal Plan, for the purpose of allocations of dwelling units within the community of Los Osos, this section shall apply to all residential dwelling units, including accessory dwellings and deed-restricted affordable housing dwelling units, within the Los Osos Urban Reserve Line.”
SLO County has an overall growth limit of 2.3% per calendar year, according to the document, and applying only to unincorporated areas of the county.
Numerous other cities in the county have set their own growth limits.
In 2025, the County wants to set a growth rate in Los Osos of 0.4% or four-tenths of one percent and that would increase to 0.6% in 2026 and 0.8% in 2027; with 2028 and beyond “established based on a 5-year rolling average of the most recent annual basin yield metric, as reported by the Los Osos Basin Management Committee’s annual reports.”
For every 1,000 dwelling units (homes and/or condos and apartments), a 0.4% growth rate would allow for just four new permits; with 75% of those (three) going to projects within town, and one outside the urban services line.
Los Osos has over 5,000 housing units, based on the sewer assessment district, so there would be 20 or so building permits available a year.
These modest numbers will be contingent on an annual report that details the available water supply.
“The annual growth rate,” the document reads, “shall be established based on review of the best available groundwater monitoring data. The department shall conduct such review and provide a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. Such review shall include consideration of recommendations from the Los Osos Basin Management Committee and the Groundwater Sustainability Director’s review of such recommendations.”
Once the maximum allowable allocation of growth is decided (due July 1) for a coming year, some 75% of that number can be awarded “within the community sewer service area,” the document reads.
Roughly that’s the whole town west of South Bay Boulevard. The remaining 25% of the building permits would go to projects outside the sewer service area (essentially east of South Bay), accessory dwelling units (granny houses); and “deed-restricted affordable housing” projects.
Once the County has sent notices to all the waiting folks who will be allowed to move forward, it will update the wait list. Those on the list shouldn’t sit around doing nothing, the ability to move forward once your number has been called depends on how complete your project application is.
Wait list people are expected to already have any “planning” permits awarded, whether issued over-the-counter at the planning department, or by the Planning Commission.
But Los Osos is entirely within the Coastal Zone, so most any project could be appealed to the Coastal Commission, and there have been some strained relations between County Planning and the Commission staff, not to mention wary citizens in town.
Before the County was able to get the Los Osos Community Plan completed, it had been approving some Coastal development permits (CDP) for projects that weren’t “new construction,” but instead were mostly home additions.
It also issued a few CDPs for projects that had been issued “will serve” letters from a water provider, all of which were appealed to the Coastal Commission by a local group of anti-growth citizen activists.
The Commission demanded the County stop issuing CDPs in Los Osos (and Cambria) for any projects that would increase water demand until the Community Plan was certified and groundwater over-draft issues resolved.
Disagreements arose between the two agencies over the matter, which were resolved in June when the Commission certified the Community Plan. That voted happened at the Commission’s monthly meetings (held in Morro Bay) and was opposed by several citizens.
Property owners will have to pay attention to notices the County will be sending out including timelines for when to apply for construction permits and available building permit allocations.
They will be assumed to already have “will-serve” letters from whatever company will be providing water. There will be issues with connecting to the community sewer to deal with as well.
There is also a requirement to “demonstrate participation in and compliance with the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan or otherwise equivalent approvals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”
The Habitat Conservation Plan sets the mitigation price for being able to “take” endangered or otherwise protected species of plants and animals, most notable the Morro Shoulder-Banded Dune Snail.
Fees paid under the HAB have been used to grow the “greenbelt” a strip of wild lands ringing the town and meant to replace in-town habitat lost to development.
The entirety of Los Osos is considered critical habitat for the dune snails, and there are several other protected species, such as Kangaroo Rats and Indian Mountain Balm, involved as well. The very “coastal dune scrub” habitat that is found all over Los Osos is also protected.
The County has already held one public meeting on this and the Los Osos Community Advisory Council (LOCAC) was to get it at its Oct. 24 meeting.
County Supervisors are scheduled to get it at their Oct. 29 meeting and assuming they approve it, would go back to the Coastal Commission in December.
Assuming all this goes smoothly, and no one in town sues to block it, the first building applications could start to be accepted by next January-February.
