It’s well passed time to update the building codes for Cayucos and have them aligned with what Cayucos is today.
The growing desire of property owners in Cayucos to maximize occupancy as well as have buildings constructed that maximum the loss of open space demands a response from our Board of Supervisors and Planning Department.
The current codes allow for overdevelopment which is causing hazards to our citizenry including parking congestion and inaccessibility for ambulances, firetrucks and waste removal trucks as well as water, sewer and run off issues.
Let me provide one illustration/example, it being the situation which has developed on the cul-de-sac block at 6th St. and St. Mary Ave. This very short five home block ends at the foot of a steep hill. A home built this year on a double lot took advantage of the old long standing property line, respected by citizens in the past, and placed their house at maximum legal point towards the street. This reduced the road from 25’ across to 17.’
The two homes built within the last two years have separate apartment rentals on their lots (ADU’s). If all residents on this cul-de-sac were present, there would be at least 17 vehicles! This does not include guests’ vehicles. The result is extreme congestion, with vehicles having difficulty turning around and getting out. Additionally, garbage trucks sometimes cannot do their job — they have to back up or even walk a distance to get to the cans. Also, ambulances, firetrucks, and post office vehicles have very difficult access. When one neighbor called the county with her concerns about garbage and mail pickup, mail delivery, she was informed people would have to take their garbage cans down to St. Mary Avenue and pick up their mail at the post office. That is not a reasonable system!
It’s clear that development will continue on three of the five lots
(the houses having been built in 1942, ’49 and ’58) in the near or not too distant future. The Planning Department and the Board of Supervisors must act now, get back to the drawing board and design codes that reflect the needs of the Cayucos of 2025.
Barbara Karush
Cayucos