In September Morro Bay is celebrating the 60th anniversary of becoming a city. The Power Plant enabled Morro Bay to become a city with its own fire and police departments. In 2014 the power plant stopped producing electricity, and that large revenue source was gone. Since then the city has continued to operate, but our infrastructure has not been receiving the repairs and upgrades that are needed: roads, sewar pipe lines, harbor piers, etc. The need continues to grow every day.
Sometimes mistakes are made in the local planning process, and that is what happened when the latest Morro Bay General Plan was adopted. It designates the 107-acre site where the old plant is located as Visitor-Serving/Commercial. But that neglects the fact that the old tank farm site remains contaminated and can only be used for industrial/commercial uses without further clean-up.
Furthermore, to protect itself from future liability, PG&E, the original owner of the power plant, placed deed restrictions on the entire property that prohibit human-related businesses from locating there. Those deed restrictions remain in effect to this day. Any visitor-serving business would need to pay PG&E to lift the restrictions or assume the liability. That’s not realistic. The likelihood of any developer taking those kinds of risks and assuming those costs to remediate the property is very remote.
So, what’s likely to happen to the old power plant site? Nothing. Morro Bay needs new revenue sources. We cannot let the largest undeveloped property in our city remain fallow. Without new revenue, the city’s infrastructure will continue to deteriorate, and the only likely source of additional revenue will be a tax increase. That is unless a good commercial revenue generating business is established on that now fallow property and the zoning is changed back to commercial.
Let our duly elected City Councilmembers take advantage of opportunities to develop the site when they arise. Do not take the power away from our city council: Vote No on A-24 And prevent new taxes.
Bill Bowes
Morro Bay