SLO County town pledges water hookups for 13 new developments after decades-long ban
The tiny San Luis Obispo County town of San Simeon is slowly prying the door open to welcome new development after a 36-year moratorium.
During a special meeting held Thursday evening, the San Simeon Community Services District’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to issue intent-to-serve letters to those still on the coastal community’s water connection waitlist.
The waitlist has 13 developments still vying for a hookup to the town’s sewer system so they can build motels, retail spaces or residences in the town near the entrance to Hearst Castle.
One individual formerly on the waitlist, Robert Hather, was recently granted a will-serve letter after he sued the town for not properly reviewing his application which indicated he endured hardship for being on the waitlist for so long.
Issuing an intent-to-serve letter is a bit different than a will-serve letter.
The board’s Thursday vote means the district is essentially promising the 13 developers on the waitlist that they will receive a will-serve letter once the town’s water-hookup moratorium is lifted.
That moratorium is expected to lift soon.
That puts the town in a unique situation, given that many communities in California are experiencing water shortages due to the ongoing and severe drought. Just 10 miles south of San Simeon, Cambria is facing a water shortage, and so are several other cities in the county.
But a recent report by Akel Engineering Group found that San Simeon has more than enough water for the town to grow, showing that efforts over the years to clean up and conserve water worked.
The California Constitution states that water resources must be put to “beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable” and that any waste must be prevented.
In other words: If communities have potable water, they need to use it.
“Now that it’s been proven that we have the water, we have absolutely no alternative other than to lift the moratorium,” San Simeon CSD board chair Gwen Kellas said during Thursday’s meeting.
