Planning Commission to weigh in on project near Morro Creek
Morro Bay could soon have a new RV park, provided the proposal can hurdle several steps in the extensive planning process.
The City Planning Commission on Feb. 18 was slated to hear a proposal for an eight-space RV park located at the end of Errol Street off Main Street. Errol is the side street that has Taco Bell on one corner. The vacant lot, which covers some 16,532 square feet, is sandwiched between the Silver City Resort’s east and west sides. One of the city’s few industrial uses, Mission Linen Supply, is also located on Errol Street.
The property backs up to Morro Creek, a sensitive habitat area that will be protected with a wide setback. The actual address of the property is 460 Errol St.
The property is zoned “Visitor Serving Commercial,” according to the report from Planning Manager Kim Fowler, and since it sits within the appeal jurisdiction of the Coastal Commission, the Planning Commission’s vote isn’t likely to be the last word on it.
The application was made by Rio Grande Recreational Vehicles Park and Charles and Eloise Champi of Hanford. The property owner is listed as Onan Champi, also of Hanford.
The property sits surrounded by other RV parks and complies with applicable zoning requirements.
It’s a pretty simple project calling for eight RV spaces, nine parking spaces, and one “onsite cargo container,” plus perimeter fencing and landscaping, according to Fowler’s report.
According to the report, the project needs a coastal development permit and a conditional use permit. Also, because of its location, next to the creek, the Planning Commission won’t be the final word.
“The final determination by the Planning Commission on these concurrently processed applications may be appealed by the applicant, owner, or by any other person aggrieved by a decision, motion, or resolution from which the action is taken,” Fowler’s report said.
And because it needs a CDP, anyone who is aggrieved by the decision can appeal to the Coastal Commission “because it is located within 100 feet of an ESHA,” Fowler’s report said. However, given that the project includes a required setback from the creek, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
“The site does not have any value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species,” according to the report.
There is one potential stumbling block, however: The property sits in a known archaeological area.
“Morro Bay is located in the Central Coast archaeological region and historically occupied by the Obispeno Chumash and Salinan tribes,” the report said. “Since most archaeological and paleontological resources are not uncovered or readily seen until grading or construction occurs, it is difficult to site developments appropriately based on the location of archaeological/cultural resources.”
It is also very near the Highway 41 corridor, which in the past has been uncovered to be a rich area with Native American artifacts. Indeed, in the 1990s, when Caltrans conducted an improvement project on the highway, it uncovered a trove of artifacts. Also, when the old Shell gas station on the corner of Main and Highway 41 was removed, a great number of Native American items were uncovered.
The applicants will have to have surveys done.
“A Cultural Resources Study was prepared by Applied Earthworks in December 2023. This confidential study (not included as an attachment in this staff report but currently on file with the Community Development Department) included a pedestrian survey and field inspection, as well as records review and Native American communication,” the report said. “The study confirmed the presence of surface deposits within the project area and recommended cultural resource monitoring during cleanup and ground disturbance.”
The property is also prone to flooding.
“The 2022 and 2023 winter storms that affected San Luis Obispo County also overwhelmed the property with woody debris, sediment, and trash,” the report said.
Those floods, which were caused by excessive rain overwhelming the creek’s carrying capacity, washed over a large area around Main Street and Highway 41. That flooding included the former Wee Shack restaurant at Main and Errol streets, which had to close and has not reopened. Several other businesses and residences along Main Street were also flooded.
The city admitted that it caused much of what habitat degradation exists there now.
“This storm also resulted in a compromised PG&E power pole and associated overhead power line that was realigned,” Fowler’s report said. “City contractors also used the property for access to debris fields on adjacent properties, as well as debris stockpiling. This post flood activity tracked heavy equipment through the riparian habitat, causing degradation, sediment and debris deposits.”
The area, which is just downstream from the confluence of Morro and Little Morro creeks, is smack dab in the middle of the area that often floods with heavy rains.
The property also has several mature trees, mostly willows, and the development is designed to work around those trees.
As an RV park — and assuming it doesn’t end up as a mobile home park instead — it will have to collect the city’s Transient Occupancy Taxes, which are set at 10% of the cost of a room/space night. If the park ends up with some folks living year-round there, the TOT payments end after 30 days.
It would also be the first new RV park in town since the mid-2010s when Morro Strand RV Park 2 on Atascadero Road was put in next door to Flippo’s.
Feature Image: This satellite image shows the location of a proposed RV park on Errol Street, off the 1600 block of Main Street. At the bottom in blue, is the Little Morro Creek channel, and at the top, from left, is Errol Street. Image courtesy of City of Morro Bay
