Operators of a small paddleboard shop on the Embarcadero will have additional time on a temporary lease to get moving on a redevelopment project.
The City Council approved amending the lease for Morro Bay Paddlesports, Inc., which is located at 551 Embarcadero in the former home of Kayak Horizons.
Owned by Todd Baston and Tamara Gray-Baston, the little shop is packed with gear for kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding, and also rents them to the public.
According to a report from the Harbor Department Business Manager, Lori Stilts, the Bastons were given a green light to proceed with a redevelopment plan last September, through a Consent of Landowner (COL) agreement. That COL gave them 5 years on a temporary lease.
But that action back in September left out a key piece. “The term of the Interim Lease Agreement expires on Sept. 30, 2024,” Stilts’ report said, “whereas the redevelopment project will supersede the lease expiration date. Staff met with the Baston’s contractor, discussed the project timeline and agreed the Interim Lease Agreement needed to be extended by at least 18 months to meet the COL deadlines.”
The amended lease now has a deadline of March 20, 2026 and they continue to work on its redevelopment pans.
Redeveloping a lease site on the Embarcadero is an involved process that includes automatic review and approval by the Coastal Commission, which has “original jurisdiction” over the State Tidelands Lease sites, like this one.
That process can be lengthy as the Coastal Commission often takes a couple of years to bring projects to the Commission for approval.
As a superior agency, the Commission has the authority to change plans as they see fit, and while changes must be brought back to the City for concurrence, the City can’t override the Commission.
This is one of the smaller lease sites on the Embarcadero.
