HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/13/2024 Item 4a, Goode - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Planning Commission Agenda Correspondence
DATE: March 13, 2024
TO: Chair and Commissioners
FROM: Owen Goode, Acting Housing Coordinator
VIA: Tyler Corey, Deputy Community Development Director
SUBJECT: ITEM 4A – GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL REPORT
Staff is providing this Agenda Correspondence to provide a notice to the Planning
Commission and members of the public, that the List of Tables in the report was
incorrectly labeled. Table 1 was duplicated in the report which caused the list to not
correspond correctly throughout the report. This has been corrected and a new copy of
the report with corrected tables has been provided as Attachment A.
ATTACHMENT
A - Revised 2023 General Plan Annual Report
City of San Luis Obispo
2023 General Plan Annual Report
General Plan Annual Report 2023
ii
Community Development Department
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to serve all persons in a positive and courteous manner and help ensure that San
Luis Obispo continues to be a healthy, safe, attractive, and enjoyable place to live, work, or visit.
We help plan the City’s form and character, support community values, preserve the
environment, promote wise use of resources, and protect public health and safety.
Our Service Philosophy
The City of San Luis Obispo Community Development Department (CDD) staff provides high
quality service when you need it. We will:
• Listen to understand your needs;
• Give clear, accurate and prompt answers to your questions;
• Explain how you can achieve your goals under the City’s rules;
• Help resolve problems in an open, objective manner;
• Maintain high ethical standards; and
• Work to improve our service.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
iii
Acknowledgements
City Council
Erica A. Stewart, Mayor
Jan Marx, Vice Mayor
Emily Francis
Andy Pease
Michelle Shoresman
Planning Commission
Juan Munoz-Morris, Chair
Justin Cooley, Vice Chair
Steven Kahn
David Houghton
Robert Jorgensen
Lindsay Ringer
Eric Tolle
City Manager
Derek Johnson, City Manager
Project Management Team
Project Lead: Owen Goode, Assistant Planner
Brian Leveille, Senior Planner
Rachel Cohen, Senior Planner
Teresa McClish, Housing Policy & Programs Manager
The 2023 General Plan Annual
Report was prepared by the
Community Development
Department for review by the
Planning Commission and
acceptance by City Council.
The Community Development
Department’s Planning
Division often takes the lead
for staff work involving the
General Plan. However, all
City departments and advisory
bodies are involved in General
Plan implementation and have
contributed to the 2023
General Plan Annual Report.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
iv
Staff Contributors
Adam Fukushima, Active Transportation Manager
Alexander Fuchs, Mobility Services Business Manager
Austin O’Dell, Transit Manager
Brian Amoroso, Deputy Chief - Administration
Bryan Wheeler, Transportation Planner/Engineer III
Chris Read, Sustainability Manager
Christine Wallace, Neighborhood Outreach Manager
Daisy Wiberg, Homelessness Response Manager
Devin Hyfield, Recreation Manager
Doug Carscaden, Recreation Supervisor
Fred Mickel, Operations Captain
Freddy Otte, City Biologist
Gaven Hussey, Parking Program Manager
Greg Avakian, Parks and Recreation Director
James Blattler, Emergency Manager
Jennifer Rice, Deputy Director of Mobility Services
Joey Nau, Fire Inspector
John Mezzapesa, Code Enforcement Supervisor
Kyle Bell, Housing Coordinator
Lee Johnson, Economic Development Manager
Luke Schwartz, Transportation Manager
Matt Horn, Public Works Director
Matheson Bliss, Hazardous Materials Coordinator
Meghan Tolley, Recreation Manager
Michael Codron, Community Development Director
Molly Cano, Economic Development & Tourism Manager
Nicole Vert, Administrative Analyst
Owen Goode, Assistant Planner
Rick Scott, Police Chief
Robert Hill, Sustainability & Natural Resources Official
Sammy Fox, Deputy Fire Chief
Shawna Scott, Special Projects Manager
Teresa McClish, Housing Policy & Programs Manager
Todd Tuggle, Fire Chief
Tyler Corey, Deputy Community Development Director
Vanessa Nichols, Permit Services Supervisor
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Contents
Community Development Department ........................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iii
List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... vi
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
Background ................................................................................................................................................... 2
General Plan Element Updates ..................................................................................................................... 3
Community Development Department ........................................................................................................ 7
Planning and Building Activity....................................................................................................................... 9
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Progress ................................................................................ 12
Housing Element Program Implementation ............................................................................................... 15
Homelessness Solutions .............................................................................................................................. 18
Residential Growth ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Non-Residential Growth ............................................................................................................................. 23
Specific Plan Area Development ................................................................................................................. 24
Municipal Code Updates ............................................................................................................................. 31
Climate Action Plan ..................................................................................................................................... 34
Economic Development .............................................................................................................................. 36
Policy Initiatives .......................................................................................................................................... 38
Water Supply............................................................................................................................................... 39
Transportation & Circulation ...................................................................................................................... 40
Neighborhood Wellness .............................................................................................................................. 61
Conservation & Open Space ....................................................................................................................... 64
Parks & Recreation ...................................................................................................................................... 67
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 78
General Plan Annual Report 2023
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1 - Total Planning Applications Received per Calendar Year, 2021-2023 ............................ 9
Figure 2 - Net Annual Growth Rates of Non-Residential Sectors, 2019-2023 .............................. 23
Figure 3 - Fire Department Twitter Profile Visits, 2019-2023....................................................... 47
Figure 4 - Monthly Noise Party Calls for Service, 2023 ................................................................. 63
List of Tables
Table 1 – Plan Check Applications Submitted, 2021-2023 ........................................................... 10
Table 2 – Building Permits Issued, 2021-2023 .............................................................................. 10
Table 3 – Valuation of Construction, 2021-2023 .......................................................................... 10
Table 4 – Progress Towards 6th Cycle Quantified Objectives, 2020-2028 .................................... 12
Table 5 – Active BMR Housing Projects in the Pipeline ................................................................ 13
Table 6 – Highlights of Housing Element Program Implementation Progress, 2023 ................... 15
Table 7 – LUE Table 3, One Percent City Population Growth Projection ..................................... 21
Table 8 – Residential Growth Rates, 2015-2023........................................................................... 21
Table 9 – Margarita Area Development Status, 2023 .................................................................. 24
Table 10 – Orcutt Area Development Status, 2023 ...................................................................... 25
Table 11 – Airport Area Development Status, 2023 ..................................................................... 26
Table 12 – Avila Area Development Status, 2023 ......................................................................... 27
Table 13 – San Luis Ranch Area Development Status, 2023......................................................... 29
Table 14 – City Water Resource Availability ................................................................................. 39
Table 15 – Code Enforcement Statistics ....................................................................................... 62
General Plan Annual Report 2023
1
Introduction
General Plan Annual Report
The General Plan is a comprehensive statement of the City’s goals and how those goals will be
achieved over the long-term. Policies and programs in the General Plan provide guidance to the
public, staff, and decision-makers on development-related issues. The General Plan is adopted
and amended by the City Council, after considering recommendations by citizens, appointed
advisory bodies, other agencies, and City staff.
Each year, the City publishes an Annual Report on the status of its General Plan and provides an
overview of actions taken to implement the Plan during the past year, as provided by California
Government Code Section 65400. This report is provided to help citizens and City officials gauge
progress towards achieving the City’s stated goals and objectives. It is also an opportunity to
review how well the Plan’s programs are being implemented. The Annual Report fulfills the
requirements of State law, and the General Plan itself. According to Land Use Element Policy 11.3
the City shall prepare an annual report on the status of the General Plan, which is to include the
following items:
A) A summary of private development activity and a brief analysis of how it helped achieve
General Plan goals;
B) A summary of major public projects and a brief analysis of how they contributed to
achieving General Plan goals;
C) An overview of programs, and recommendations on any new approaches that may be
necessary;
D) A status report for each General Plan program scheduled to be worked on during that
year, including discussion of whether that program's realization is progressing on
schedule, and recommendations for how it could better be kept on schedule if it is
lagging;
E) A status report on how the City is progressing with implementing its open space
preservation policies and programs;
F) Updated population or other information deemed important for the plan.
Housing Element Annual Report
The City also completes a separate Housing Element Annual Report and submits this report
concurrently with the General Plan Annual report as required under Government Code Section s
65400 and 65700. The Housing Element Annual Report contains a range of detailed information
on issued and/or completed residential building permits for the previous calendar year. This
information can be accessed on the California Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) website.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
2
Background
State law requires each city and county to adopt a general plan that
addresses seven topics, typically referred to as “elements.”
Additional topics, or general plan elements, may be included. The law
also requires general plans to be comprehensive, internally
consistent and provide a long-term perspective. The California
Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) publishes General
Plan Guidelines, which includes the following basics:
• Geographic Comprehensiveness: The general plan must cover all
territory in the jurisdiction’s boundaries.
• Regional Context: The general plan must consider regional plans
for transportation, air quality and water quality, and must spell
out measures needed to meet federal or state standards for the
region.
• Issue Comprehensiveness: General plans must address the
jurisdiction’s physical development over the long term, but
because the general plan is the most comprehensive expression
of the general welfare, it should also recognize social and
economic concerns.
• Internal Consistency: All general plan elements must be
internally consistent. Each element’s data, analyses, goals,
policies, and programs must be consistent and complement one
another. This includes consistency with area and specific plans.
• Long-Term Perspective: The general plan must address the
welfare of current & future generations, although the
timeframes may vary between elements. The Housing Element,
for instance, must be updated every five to eight years.
State law says that a City’s general plan should be kept current. The
City of San Luis Obispo does this through this annual review process,
comprehensive updates, and through amendments. Updates to
entire elements are done as needed and include a look at underlying
conditions and preferences. Amendments are typically smaller in
scope and involve changing one part in a way that fits within the
overall framework. Consideration of amendments are triggered by
private applications or by direction from the City Council.
Changes to the City of San Luis Obispo General Plan require hearings
by the Planning Commission and by the City Council. The type of
notice provided for the hearings depends on the type of proposed
change, but always includes a descriptive item on the meeting
agenda, which is published in the newspaper. The City’s website and
public access television channel provide additional information.
City of
San Luis Obispo
General Plan
Elements
Land Use
Update Adopted 2014
Circulation
Update Adopted 2014
Housing
Update Adopted
2020
Conservation and
Open Space
Revised 2014
Climate Adaptation
and Safety
Revised 2023
Parks and
Recreation
Adopted 2021
Water and
Wastewater
Revised 2018
Noise
Adopted 1996
General Plan Annual Report 2023
3
General Plan Element Updates
Safety Element Update
On January 17, 2023, the City Council approved an update to the Safety Element of the General
Plan titled, the Climate Adaptation and Safety Element. The approval culminated a multi-year
project to incorporate climate adaptation and environmental justice into the safety element and
to update the document based on best
available climate information, collaboration
with state and regional partners, and robust
public engagement.
The update started with an adaptation
planning grant issued through Caltrans and
allowed for the preparation of a Baseline
Conditions Report, current and future
hazards assessment and a Hazards and
Vulnerabilities Report, development of
adaptation strategies, several surveys,
webinars and outreach activities and policy
development based upon the California
Adaptation Planning Guide. The technical
work and community engagement, along
with the 2019 Hazard Mitigation Plan update,
form the foundation for the Climate
Adaptation and Safety Element in compliance
with State Bills such as SB-379, SB-99, SB-100,
SB-1035, and other State laws.
2023 Climate Adaptation and Safety Element Goals
Public Safety. Minimize injury and loss of life, damage to public and private property, and social
and economic disruptions resulting from injury, death, and property damage.
Community Resilience. All community members are enabled and empowered to prepare for,
respond to and recover from disruptions while seizing opportunities to thrive in changing
conditions.
City Government Resilience. The City’s facilities, infrastructure, and operations are resilient,
innovative, and continue to cost-effectively provide core functions and services for all
community members in times of acute disaster and ongoing disruptions.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Environmental Justice. A diverse, equitable, and healthy community where those who are
disproportionately affected by natural hazards and climate change have the resources and
capacity to participate in public processes and have an active role in preparing and responding
to future impacts.
Natural Systems. The natural environment sustains and supports ecological and community
health, safety, and natural beauty, provides equitable access to nature, and can adapt and keep
pace with a dynamic, changing climate.
Built Environment. Community buildings, public spaces and transportation systems withstand
the natural hazards and escalating impacts of climate change, provide places of refuge, foster
social cohesiveness, minimize injury and loss of life, and equitably protect personal and
community assets.
2023 Climate Adaptation and Safety Element (CASE) Policy Priorities and Recent
Accomplishments
High-Impact Multi-Hazard Resilience:
The CASE emphasizes a set of high priority policies and programs that address multiple climate
hazards at the same time. These actions address the root causes of vulnerability in our
community and help prepare our infrastructure and natural resources for the changes ahead.
One such program is to update the City’s Capital Improvement Project process to better
incorporate climate change (MH-1.5) as well as diversity equity and inclusion (EJ2.5). As a
result, the 2022-23 CIP Planning Process included direct questions about projects’ climate and
DEI impacts. This new information was factored into the decision-making process and impacted
the ranking and funding of CIP projects. Another high-impact multi-hazard program centers
around Climate Resilience Hubs (MH-1.8). In 2023, the City applied for a Sustainable Growth
Council grant with Diversity Coalition SLO, UndocuSupport, and the Center for Family
Strengthening / Promotores. This group of community partners put forward a Multicultural
Center & Resilience Hub concept. If funded, the City and its nonprofit partners would initiate a
planning process for a physical space that could gather the community and provide regular
programming and services, while simultaneously serving as a safe place during emergencies by
being equipped with back-up power, food distribution capabilities, and showers.
Equity and Environmental Justice:
As the CASE serves as the City’s Environmental Justice element, as defined by state law, it calls
for specific actions to advance procedural, distributive, and structural equity. In 2023, the City
updated its Public Engagement and Noticing Manual to better engage the community and
enable procedural equity in local decision making (EJ-2.4). The City also continued to empower
community organizations in implementing the case (EJ-2.3), as evidenced by the multitude of
public partnerships with local non-profit organizations for programs including Traditional
Ecological Knowledge, Community Resilience Hubs, and the Green and Healthy Buildings
Program. Community organizations taking a leadership role on environmental justice include
Diversity Coalition SLO, the yak yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe, Creek Lands
General Plan Annual Report 2023
5
Conservation, the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo, and the Housing Authority
of San Luis Obispo. For Homelessness Response, a protocol was established for providing direct
community outreach in advance of climate hazards and was implemented prior to flooding
events. Additionally, the Mobile Crisis Unit has been established and partners with community
organizations and agencies to provide outreach and connection to services to improve living
conditions of those in crisis. Finally, the Office of DEI provides support to for the inclusion of
equity within various city operations, likewise oversees the DEI High Impact Grant and the
Human Services Grant programs designed to address various areas including homelessness
prevention, access to services, climate justice, and other programs impacting underserved and
underrepresented communities.
Flooding: As climate change shifts precipitation patterns and increases short -duration high-
intensity rainfall events, the City is expected to experienced increased flooding in the future. To
adapt to these floods, the City is using a “Resilient Flood Management System” (FL-3.5). Under
this program, Capital Improvement
Projects and emergency projects are
being designed to create additional
channel capacity and are incorporating
creek bed stabilizing structures to avoid
further incision and bank failures that
threaten adjacent neighborhoods and
infrastructure. Another 2023 highlight in
flood resilience is the $200,000 funding
request submitted through the Zone 9
Flood Control and Watershed Protection
District to update the “Waterway
Management Plan” (FL-3.7). As this
document is now 20 years old, several of
its recommended projects have been
completed and staff have identified
opportunities to integrate updated
methodologies for flood prevention and
creek channel resiliency. City staff are
working also with the Fire Safe Council to
develop a “Urban Creeks Vegetation
Management Plan” to reduce in-stream debris that can cause flooding and serve as fire fuel.
The plan will employ several different management techniques based on the location in the
creek system, to increase the biological resiliency of the riparian co rridor (FL-3.10). City and
County staff are also working on developing an updated “Flood Warning Monitoring System”
for more accurate, real-time creek flow data that would enable an early alert system if intense
rain systems should move across the watershed (FL-3.13). Lastly, to support “Community
Driven Flood Education” the City hosted a Community Flood Readiness night at the farmers
market on November 2nd (FL-3.7). Attendees increased their understanding of the watershed
and recently completed flood control and resiliency projects completed in response to the
Flood Damage Prevention (FL-3.8)
The winter storms from 2022-2023 were
significant and many sections along the creek
system were damaged. Several emergency
projects were initiated by Public Works and
supported by the Office of Sustainability and
Natural Resources to repair the damage but
also build in future resiliency and community
protection. As the repair projects were in
development, additional channel capacity
features were added to the projects along with
channel stabilization elements to prevent future
channel incision and bank failures. These
projects increased channel capacity to slow the
water down and renew access to floodplain
areas that have been lost through channel
constriction and sediment accumulation. These
projects will be a monitored to ensure the added
capacity is maintained for additional
community protection and creek resilience.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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January 2023 storms. This event was the first step in launching the Flood Prepared
Neighborhoods Program (FL-3.11).
Extreme Heat:
While historically extreme heat has not been a climate hazard in San Luis Obispo, in the future
the City will experience many more dangerously hot days. To build resilience to the heat, the
City is working to develop a “Green and Healthy Buildings Program” that provides low -income
homeowners with better access to new space conditioning appliances known as heat pumps
that provide efficient air conditioning (HE-4.7). In support of this program, the was awarded
$400,000 dollars in prize funding from the U.S. D epartment of Energy to develop a concierge
service for low-income community members to equitably electrify their homes. In addition to
expanding access to air conditioning, the City is growing its “Climate Smart Urban Tree Canopy”
to reduce heat naturally amid many other environmental and social benefits. The City’s
Community Forest Plan, adopted in 2023, will guide future plantings (HE-4.5).
Fire:
Staff addressed wildfire safety through a number of programs including, “Resident Information
and Training on Fire Hazards” (FI-5.16), “Implement community wildfire protection plan” (FI-
5.12), and “Fire protection plans related to new development” (FI-5.19). Staff is also
implementing the Vegetation Management Plan (FI-5.13). City staff from the Fire Department,
Office of Sustainability and natural Resources and the Ranger Service from Parks and Recreation
have met to develop a Charter to work together and develop a grant application to seek
funding for a watershed wide VMP including partners from the County, Cal Poly, Caltrans and
others for a comprehensive look at protecting our community internally and externally. Staff is
working with the Fire Safe Council on developing a project description with fuel reduction
techniques to reduce the threat of fire in the creek systems and this will help advance
permitting needed to implement the work. Once this description is complete, funding for the
permitting effort will be sought to keep this project moving forward. These efforts are ongoing.
City Operations and Emergency Services:
Staff Training (OP-7.18) remained a top priority and impacted all emergency operational
departments across the city. Additionally, all city employees completed essential National
Incident Management System, Standardized Emergency Management System, and Incident
Command System training. Two programs within the CASE helped support this priority through
Coordinated Emergency Planning (OP-7.15), and Emergency Operations Center (OP-7.10)
program. These were carried out through the use and improvement of the City’s Primary EOC at
Fire Station 1, and the planning of the new EOC’s integration into the future Public Safety Center ,
updates to the Emergency Operations Plan and completion of the 2022-23 Storms After Action
Report and Improvement Plan. The City also made progress in adding solar to City facilities
through a Power Purchasing Agreement with Forefront Energy. The designs for solar at Fire
Station 1 are aligned with a future microgrid, and will enable a “Clean Energy Microgrid for City
Facilities” (OP-7.11). Additionally, the Administration Department completed a “Climate
Informed Economic Development Strategic Plan” (OP-7.23). The Office of Sustainability and
Natural Resources also secured grants to implement climate-smart restoration projects on two
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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City Open Spaces. The restoration project planned for Johnson Ranch Open Space features
Traditional Ecological Knowledge and will be implemented in direct partnership with the yak tityu
tityu yak tilhini Northern Chumash Tribe (OP-7.20).
Community Development Department
Customer Service and Process Improvements
In 2023, the Community Development Department continued to monitor procedures and
improve levels of efficiency and customer service. In 2023, the Community Development
Department continued to implement work efforts such as the Ask SLO program and developed
new programs such as E-Reviews for building permit submittals. This reduces costs for building
permit submittals and saves paper for applicants.
Ask SLO: Ask SLO is the City's centralized resident engagement platform designed to quickly
connect community members with City services and information. Following the implementation
of the Ask SLO platform in Fall 2022, process improvements and feedback received both
internally and externally have been the focus of 2023 to ensure the interface is user friendly.
Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) Implementation: In 2023, the Community
Development Department was engaged in the update to the Economic Development Strategic
Plan (EDSP) as well as developing the work program for the Major City Goal of Economic
Resiliency, Community Vitality and Fiscal Sustainability identified in the Fiscal Year 2023-2025
Financial Plan. Progress in 2023 included continuing to improve processing timelines for reviews,
focusing on the five-year comprehensive impact fee study to update fees, and tracking and
reporting on department key performance indicators (KPIs), which are available on the City’s
website. Processing and review improvements included decreased thresholds for projects to
require discretionary development review and implementation of the recently adopted Objective
Design Standards for ministerial building permit reviews.
Coordination with Other Agencies
In addition to City-initiated efforts to implement the General Plan, City staff responded to
development plans and applications from other agencies in 2023 and coordinated with other
agencies on General Plan priorities. Some examples include:
Regional Housing Action Team: The City, along with the County, and the seven local cities within
the county have each updated their Housing Elements for the new 6th Cycle RHNA. Continued
collaboration among all the cities, SLOCOG, and County with monthly meetings has occurred to
implement the region’s first “regional chapter” that is a part of all eight local agencies’ Housing
Elements. This collaboration has assisted housing professionals in each jurisdiction navigate
evolving housing issues and new State legislation. This last year, the Regional Housing Action
Team worked together to develop the first Housing & Infrastructure Regional Framework, to
establish a planning toolkit in response to the region’s growing housing and infrastructure
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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shortage, the plan was also accompanied by the Housing & Infrastructure Mapping Tool, the
Funding Strategies Assessment, the Affordable-by-Design Study, and Housing Highlights.
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans): Progress continues with preliminary
engineering and environmental review for the Prado Road/US 101 Interchange Project, which
directly involves a Caltrans facility, and the Prado Road Bridge Replacement over San Luis Obispo
Creek, which is funded by a Caltrans Highway Bridge Program grant. The Prado Bridge
Replacement Project is anticipated to begin construction in 2025, and the Prado Interchange
Project construction is anticipated to begin in 2027. The City has also continued collaboration
with Caltrans on improving traffic signal coordination between City and Caltrans intersections
near the Los Osos Valley Road / US 101 interchange.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Planning and Building Activity
Application totals are tracked in real-time using live dashboards from our EnerGov permitting
system. Tracking of applications and permits serve as an indicator of development trends and a
tool for budget forecasting.
Yearly Planning Application Trends
Figure 1 indicates all planning applications received for each calendar year for 2021, 2022, and
2023. Some examples of the types of applications include use permits, development reviews,
subdivisions, zoning amendments, environmental reviews, and administrative actions. In 2023,
the total number of planning applications increased from the previous year by approximately
10%. This trend is in part due to a small increase in exception requests that require director
review.
Figure 1 - Total Planning Applications Received per Calendar Year, 2021-2023
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
Building Permits and Plan Reviews
Building permits are issued for various projects ranging from the relatively simple (e.g ., water
heaters, window change outs, reroofing, etc.) to the more complex projects (e.g., additions and
new buildings). Plan reviews are typically required for the more complex projects where it is
necessary to review proposed design documents for code compliance.
Table 1 shows the number of plan check applications conducted by the Building Division over the
last three years. Plan check applications has remained relatively consistent over the past three
years with a slight uptick in 2023.
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General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Table 1 - Plan Check Applications Submitted, 2021-2023
2021 2022 2023
Plan Check Applications Submitted 1,426 1,386 1,479
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
Table 2 depicts the number of building permits issued over the past three years. In 2023, we saw
a drop in number of total new units. This was due to the significant decrease in the number of
New Multi-Family and Mixed Used Permits. The San Luis Ranch Development was the main factor
in the larger number of New Multi-Family permits for 2021 and 2022 with only a few being issued
in 2023.
Table 2 - Building Permits Issued, 2021-2023
BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED
2021 2022 2023
permits units permits units permits units
New Single Family 198 198 163 163 136 136
New Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)1 62 93 100 100 73 73
New Multi Family & New Mixed Use 47 326 35 308 7 148
Demolitions2 22 -3 11 -4 20 -3
New Commercial 3 0 10 0 6 0
Residential Additions / Alterations 199 0 138 0 236 0
Commercial Additions / Alterations 99 0 77 0 122 0
TOTAL 608 614 534 567 600 354
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
1ADU unit totals come from ADU permits and single-family permits, 2includes units lost from demolitions.
Valuation of Construction
Construction valuation is a good indicator of the level of private investment in building
construction. Table 3 depicts the annual construction valuation over the past three years.
Valuation data shows an increase across categories for 2023. Those categories showing a smaller
valuation number for 2023 are due to fewer permits being issued in 2023 in the given category.
Multi-Family valuation saw a significant decrease with this year’s valuation with only about a
third of the number of permits as 2022.
Table 3 - Valuation of Construction, 2021-2023
VALUATION OF
CONSTRUCTION 2021 2022 2023
Single Family $34,211,415 $32,464,875 $31,956,590
Multi Family $46,933,301 $43,655,086 $26,914,510
Commercial $1,229,510 $33,950,000 $41,871,000
Residential Additions /
Alterations $6,459,062 $8,741,375 $11,494,439
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Commercial Additions /
Alterations $6,722,907 $18,711,218 $26,659,996
Total Valuation $95,556,195 $137,522,554 $138,896,535
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
12
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Progress
Quantified Objectives
Under State law, each city and county in California is required to develop programs designed to meet
their share of the surrounding region's housing needs for all income groups, as determined by the
region’s council of governments. The California State Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) identifies housing needs for all regions of the State. Councils of governments
then apportion the regional housing need among their member jurisdictions. The Regional Housing
Needs Allocation (RHNA) process seeks to ensure that each jurisdiction accepts responsibility, within
its physical and financial capability to do so, for the housing needs of its residents and for those
people who might reasonably be expected to move there. State housing law recognizes that housing
need allocations are goals that jurisdictions seek to achieve; however, they are not intended as
production quotas. The allocations are included in each jurisdiction’s Housing Element so that plans,
policies, and standards may be created to help meet housing needs within the planning period.
The City has a total RHNA allocation of 3,354 housing units to plan for in the 6th Cycle Housing
Element. HCD has allowed the City 10 years to meet the 6th Cycle RHNA allocation. The City counts
all issued building permits from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2028, as credit towards
achieving the 6th Cycle RHNA allocation. Additionally, HCD has allowed the City to count half of the
total of newly issued accessory dwelling unit (ADU) permits in the “low income” affordability level
count starting in 2020, due to the results of a market study conducted by the County of San Luis
Obispo. Table 4 shows the City’s progress towards reaching its total RHNA.
Table 4 - Progress Towards 6th Cycle Quantified Objectives, 2020-2028
Income Level
(% of County Median Income)
6th Cycle
RHNA
Allocation
Building Permitted Units Issued by Affordability Total Units by
Income Level
Total Units
Remaining by
Income Level
Year 1
(2019)
Year 2
(2020)
Year 3
(2021)
Year 4
(2022)
Years 5 – 10
(2023 - 2028)
Extremely Low
Deed
Restricted
825
0 0 14 36 0 50
683
Non-Deed
Restricted 0 0 0 0 0 0
Very Low
Deed
Restricted 0 14 42 14 22 92
Non-Deed
Restricted 0 0 0 0 0 0
Low
Deed
Restricted 520
6 0 36 21 5 68
326 Non-Deed
Restricted 0 30 46 50 0 126
Moderate
Deed
Restricted 603
8 5 9 2 4 28
532 Non-Deed
Restricted 0 0 0 0 43 43
Above Moderate 1,406 523 416 472 439 293 2,143 0
Total Units 3,354 537 465 619 562 367 2,550
Total Remaining for RHNA Period: 1,541
Source: Community Development Department, Building Permits Issued, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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The City has met its total allocation for “Above Moderate” housing units. This leaves 1,541 affordable
units needed to meet the 6th Cycle RHNA allocation by the end of the 2028 calendar year. Of the
remaining allocation, 44% of the units must be reserved for Very Low and Extremely Low Incomes ,
21% for Low Incomes, and 35% for Moderate Incomes.
Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing (commonly known as Affordable Housing)
In 2022, the City followed the State’s lead to rebrand the often-misunderstood term "affordable
housing" and use the term Below Market Rate Housing instead. Below Market Rate (BMR) means
that the affordability level of a dwelling unit is below the cost of what the current market rate unit
would be, and includes a deed restriction, ensuring that the unit is affordable to extremely low-, very
low-, low-, or moderate-income households.
The City continues to implement the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and promote opportunities to
collaborate with non-profit partners to develop BMR housing projects throughout the community. In
2023, two 100% BMR housing projects have been completed (Broad Street Place and Toscano
Inclusionary Housing), which has resulted in 78 new units reserved for lower-income households. The
City continues to assist in the efforts to complete the two BMR projects that are under construction
(Tiburon Place and The Anderson Hotel), which will result in 136 units for lower-income households.
Staff is also working on several new projects to ensure more BMR housing is provided in the City.
Those projects are listed in Table 5 below and shows that as of 2023, there are 586 new BMR units
planned for lower-income households.
Table 5 – Active BMR Housing Projects in the Pipeline
Projects Address Dwellings Status
Broad Street Place 3720 Broad 40
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Public Improvements – Complete
Building Permits – Issued
Construction – Complete
Toscano Inclusionary
Housing 3065 Lucca 38
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Issued
Construction – Complete
Tiburon Place 3750 Bullock 68
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Issued
Under Construction
The Anderson Hotel 955 Monterey 68
Planning Entitlements – Exempt
Building Permits – Issued
Under Construction
Bridge Street Mixed-
Use 279 Bridge 94
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Phase 1 Building Permits - Issued
Phase 2 & 3 Building Permits – Under
Review
736 Orcutt Mixed-
Use 736 Orcutt 40 Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Issued
Jones Mixed-Use 3806
Ranchhouse 9 Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Issued
Palm Street Studios 1118 Palm 8 Planning Entitlements – Exempt
Building Permits – Under Review
Monterey Mixed-
Use 1422 Monterey 106 Planning Entitlements – Approved
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Avila Ranch –
Sendero Apartments 165 Cessna Ct. 60 Planning Entitlements – Under Review
Waterman Village 466 Dana 22 Planning Entitlements – Under Review
HASLO Victoria
Mixed-Use 2690 Victoria 33 Planning Entitlements – Under Review
Total 586
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
Third Party Below Market Rate Administrator
The City of San Luis Obispo’s BMR housing programs are growing and, at the same time, oversight
and enforcement is ramping up to ensure that local affordable housing programs comply with State
law. In 2021, the City contracted with HouseKeys to act as the City’s BMR Housing Administrator and
to manage the city’s growing Affordable Homeownership and Rental Programs to ensure that the
units are marketed to the community in a fair and equitable way, and to make sure those units are
occupied by eligible households. They also provide community members with the knowledge and
support to be successful in accessing homeownership or rental housing opportunities.
Through Housekeys, the city has conducted 19 Opportunity Drawings for inclusionary housing units
across the City, including 8 drawings for homeownership opportunities and 11 drawing for rental
opportunities.
Funding and Grant Programs for Housing
1. Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG):
The CDBG program provides annual funding for eligible
affordable housing projects and support for the homeless
shelter. Over the past decade the CDBG Program has
allocated over $3,710,000 towards affordable housing and
$1,160,000 towards homeless services. Projects funded for
the upcoming 2024 Program Year include homeless services
and homeless prevention, and funds to further implement the 6th Cycle Housing Element.
2. SB2 Grant: The Planning Grants Program provisions of SB2 is intended for the preparation,
adoption, and implementation of plans that streamline housing approval and accelerate
housing production. The City received a grant of $160,000 in January 2020 to develop and
adopt a flexible density program that would allow for additional, smaller residential units
(150-600 sq. ft.) within the Downtown Core. The project allows up to 500 residential units
under 600 square feet implementing Housing Element Policy 6.6 and Program 2.15. The
project was reviewed by Planning Commission in February 2023 and presented to Council on
March 2023 and adopted by City Council on April 18, 2023.
3. Prohousing Designation Program: In 2023, the City applied for the Prohousing Designation
Program which provides incentives to cities and counties in the form of additional points or
other preferences in the scoring of competitive housing, community development, and
infrastructure programs. The Prohousing Incentive Pilot Program is a state investment from
the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, to create and conserve affordable housing. HCD will
award PIP funds to eligible jurisdictions with Prohousing Designation, with additional bonus
dollars available based on a jurisdiction’s Prohousing Designation Program application score.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
15
The program requires a minimum score of 30 points, where the City of SLO has been awarded
50 points under the program. The City of SLO is eligible for up to $750,000 from the program,
an application has been submitted and is under review.
Housing Element Program Implementation
Since adopting the Housing Element in November 2020, City staff has implemented a number of
Housing Element Programs in alignment with the Housing and Homelessness Major City Goal.
Table 6 displays a list and discussion on programs that were implemented or started in 2023.
Table 6 – Highlights of Housing Element Program Implementation Progress, 2023
Flexible Density Program: City staff developed and completed an ordinance to implement a
Flexible Density program incentivizing small units in the Downtown Core. Ordinance
development included significant public engagement inclusive of public survey and strategic
feedback sessions. The Ordinance was unanimously approved by the City Council on April 18,
2023.
Program 2.15
Evaluate a flexible density pilot program and initiate an update of the Zoning
Regulations and Community Design Guidelines to incorporate flexible density
development options in Downtown Core and portions of Upper Monterey and
Mid-Higuera Special Focus Areas to support the production of 50 smaller
residential units (150 to 600 square feet) per year during the planning period.
Policy 6.6
Consistent with the City’s goal to stimulate higher density infill where
appropriate in the Downtown, Upper Monterey, and Mid-Higuera Special Focus
Areas, the City shall consider changes to the Zoning Regulations that would
allow for flexible density standards that support the development of smaller
apartments and efficiency units.
Support supportive programs and housing solutions. The City Council allocated $2M in
affordable housing funds from Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to assist the
Housing Authority in San Luis Obispo with the acquisition and rehabilitation of 68 units restricted
for extremely low, very low and low-income residents that were identified in the 6th Cycle
Housing Element as At-Risk (Anderson Hotel); and the acquisition and rehabilitation for 8
supportive housing apartments for Transitions Mental Health Association.
The City also approved a 106-unit affordable housing project, referred to as Monterey Crossing,
for Peoples Self Help Housing utilizing a 68% density bonus.
Homekey Award announcement –the City and People’s Self-Help Housing were awarded a $19.4
million Homekey Round 3 grant to convert the Motel 6 North into 75 permanent supportive
housing units.
Program 1.7 Continue to support local and regional solutions to homelessness by funding
supportive program services and housing solutions.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Program 2.5
Continue to manage the Affordable Housing Fund so that the fund serves as a
sustainable resource for supporting, at a minimum, 4 new affordable housing
developments during the planning period. The fund shall serve as a source of
both grant funding and below-market financing for affordable housing projects;
and funds shall be used to support a wide variety of housing types at the
following income levels: extremely low, very low, low, and moderate, but with
a focus on production efficiency to maximize housing benefits for the City’s
financial investment, and to support high-quality housing projects that would
not be feasible without Affordable Housing Fund support
Program 2.9
Assist with the issuance of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit financing, loan
underwriting or other financial tools to help develop or preserve at least 20
affordable units annually through various programs.
Program 2.14
Continue to support density bonuses for residential projects above the state
density bonus allowance of 35% to promote the development of units for
extremely low, very low, and low-income households.
Policy 3.3
Encourage the construction, preservation, rehabilitation or expansion of
residential hotels, group homes, integrated community apartments, and single-
room occupancy dwellings.
Technical Assistance and Education. The City worked with Housekeys to conduct two
workshops to assist developers and the lending community, and prospective renters and
homebuyers on the process and requirements for below market rate housing. City Staff updated
Affordable Housing Standards and Guidelines and updated the City’s website for housing
programs including information on SB35 streamlining opportunities. The City continue s to
provide $40,000 in operational support for the SLO County Housing Trust Fund’s efforts to
provide below-market financing and technical assistance.
Program 2.11
In conjunction with the Housing Authority and other local housing agencies,
continue to provide on-going technical assistance and education to tenants,
property owners and the community at large on the need to preserve at -risk
units as well as the available tools to help them do so.
Program 2.16
Create and make available to interested parties an informational packet that
explains SB 35 streamlining provisions and eligibility within two years of Housing
Element adoption.
Program 6.14
Continue to provide City resources, including $40,000 annually for operational
support, to support the SLO County Housing Trust Fund’s efforts to provide
below-market financing and technical assistance to affordable housing
developers to construct or preserve five affordable housing units per year in the
City of San Luis Obispo.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Assisting the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. In March 2023, City Council
adopted the first-ever Homelessness Response Strategic Plan, outlining objectives and key tasks
to prevent and address homelessness, in alignment with the Countywide Plan to Address
Homelessness.(More details are included in the following section.)
Policy 8.10
Assist the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless by supporting 40
Prado Homeless Services Center and other local service providers, as well as
advocating for additional safe parking, interim housing, and permanent
supportive housing opportunities Countywide.
Promote sustainability in residential developments. The City worked with 3CE to help
affordable housing developments receive rebates for building zero emission (all-electric)
buildings. The City paused enforcement on it’s all-electric building requirements due to judicial
findings that a similar ordinance pre-empted federal law; in it’s place, the City Council adopted
a new ordinance requiring new buildings to be more efficient . The new standards when into
effect on January 1, 2024.
Policy 9.1
Residential developments should promote sustainability consistent with the
Climate Action Plan (CAP) and California Building Energy Efficiency Standards
(Title 24) in their design, placement, and functionality.
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Homelessness Solutions
The City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element includes policies and programs to reduce homelessness under
Goal 1-Safety and Goal 8-Special Housing needs. Additionally, Homelessness Response remains a
Major City Goal (Housing and Homelessness) as part of the 2023-2025 Financial Plan. With the
continued rise in homelessness across the state of California, City Council prioritized funding
programs and resources to prevent and address homelessness in collaboration with the County of
San Luis Obispo and local service providers. In local government, counties are primarily responsible
for leading efforts to address homelessness, yet the impacts often are borne directly by cities. In
2023, the City responded to 47 encampment fires (a decrease from 61 in 2022), and 987 medical
incidents involving people experiencing homelessness (a decrease from 1,015 in 2022), removed 110
tons of trash, and posted, conducted outreach, and cleaned up 161 illegal encampments with
$88,160.50 in City funds spent on cleanup and maintenance activities related to homelessness. The
City also provided $238,826 to the 40 Prado Homeless Services Center for programs and operations,
including the 40 Prado Safe Parking Program, a hotel voucher program, and the 40 Prado Warming
Center.
Strategic Planning for Homelessness
In March 2023, City Council adopted the City’s first Homelessness Response Strategic Plan to outline
objectives and key tasks towards preventing and addressing homelessness in the City of San Luis
Obispo. The Strategic Plan aligns with the San Luis Obispo Countywide Plan to Address Homelessness,
which outlines key lines of effort to reduce homelessness by 50% between 2022-2027. Key
Components in the City’s Strategic Plan include Regional Collaboration & Engagement,
Communications, Data, Pilot Programs, and Funding Opportunities. The Homelessness Response
Strategic Plan was informed by a community-wide survey, interviews with unhoused community
members, and stakeholder feedback sessions with Homeless Services Providers, Housing Services
Providers, Healthcare Providers, Grassroots/Activists Groups, Business Community, and Faith -Based
Groups. Homelessness response activities in 2023 included regional collaboration on state funding
opportunities to develop interim and permanent supportive housing; partnering with community and
faith-based organizations to develop a Rotating Overnight Safe Parking Program model;
implementation of internal procedures and standards for encampment related activities
operationalized through a data collection app for use in the field; and distribution of the City’s
Homeless Resources Pocket Guide, updated in English and Spanish, which contains critical
information on how to access community resources for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Human Services Grant Program
The City’s Human Services Grant (HSG) Program, overseen by the Human Relations Commission,
provides financial support to non-profit organizations that promote the economic and social
wellbeing of the community, whose primarily funding criteria focuses on homelessness prevention,
including affordable and alternative housing, supportive services, and transitional housing. Other
funding priority areas include hunger and malnutrition prevention, supportive physical and mental
health services, services for seniors, veterans and/or people with disabilities, supportive,
developmental, and care services for children and youth, and services encouraging diversity, equity,
and inclusion initiatives, including access to language services. The Human Services Grant Program is
General Plan Annual Report 2023
19
very competitive and had a total funding request of $379,245 which was $229,245 more than funds
available to the program.
The Human Relations Commission reviewed 29 applications and recommended full or partial funding
for 19 different organizations. The City has issued $150,000 in grants to those organizations since the
approval of the funding recommendations.
Community Action Team
The Community Action Team (CAT) works out of the Police Department with two officers and a social
worker contracted through a partnership with Transitions Mental Health Association (TMHA), a local
non-profit organization, to provide outreach to unhoused individuals. In 2022, an additional social
worker was added to expand CAT outreach efforts. In 2023, the CAT team engaged with 408 people,
with 258 individuals electing to receive referrals to mental health and or substance abuse services.
CAT also facilitates family reunifications and connects people with resources to find housing and
other services such as veterans’ benefits, social security, and educational opportunities. In 2023, CAT
reunified 6 individuals with family members or agencies, and facilitated 3 permanent housing
placements.
Partnerships with Downtown SLO and CAPSLO
The City provides funding for the Downtown Ambassador
Program which is administered by Downtown SLO. The
Downtown SLO Ambassadors work to ensure that downtown
is clean, safe, and welcoming to visitors — whether they’re
living, working, shopping, or exploring downtown.
Ambassadors provide cleaning services for the sidewalks and
alleys within the boundaries of the 24-block service area. This includes, but is not limited to, the
removal of trash, graffiti, stickers, and human waste. Additionally, Ambassadors are out on the
streets connecting our community — whether that's providing directions, recommending
restaurants, answering questions, or providing resources to unhoused individuals. In 2023,
Downtown SLO Ambassadors removed 4,809 pounds of trash, removed 533 graffiti tags, cleaned 640
incidents of human waste, performed 637 wellness checks on unhoused individuals, provided
directional assistance to 539 downtown visitors and shared information about downtown businesses
540 times. The Ambassadors worked over 3,000 hours to keep Downtown SLO clean and safe.
Downtown SLO partners with CAPSLO to provide a part-time case manager to connect unhoused
individuals with services and housing. CAPSLO provides 12-18 hours of dedicated outreach downtown
on a weekly basis. The City’s Community Service Officers provide additional enforcement support for
the Downtown Ambassadors who report potential dangers or active emergency situations to the
police, fire department, or emergency services.
The City also provides funding to CAPSLO for 40 Prado Homeless Services Center, which provides
overnight shelter and day services for unhoused community members, including housing navigation
and case management. The Homeless Services Center also provides access to meals, showers, laundry
facilities, healthcare, internet, and other supportive services. The City also provides funding for the
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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40 Prado Safe Parking, Warming Center, and Hotel Voucher Programs, which provide needed
overflow capacity, services, and shelter for unhoused community members.
Mobile Crisis Unit
Embedded within the City’s Fire Department, the Mobile Crisis Unit (MCU) was implemented in the
Summer of 2022 and pairs a mental health case worker with a fire department emergency medical
technician (EMT) or paramedic that responds to calls for service within the City and provide crisis
support services to individuals suffering from non-emergency mental challenges, drug and alcohol
addition, and chronic homelessness. In 2023, the MCU established 3,285 contacts with individuals
experiencing homelessness and reunified 91 homeless individuals with agencies or family, provided
56 transports to services or alternate facilities, and fielded a total of 265 mental health crisis
intervention calls for service.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Residential Growth
The Land Use Element policy related to residential growth (LUE 1.11.2) states that the City’s
housing supply shall grow no faster than one percent per year, on average, based on established
thresholds shown in Table 7 (Table 3 in the Land Use Element). This policy was modified in 2010
under Ordinance No. 1550 to an annual average population growth rate of one percent per year.
Affordable Dwellings restricted to residents with extremely low, very low, low, or moderate
incomes, new dwellings in the Downtown Core (C-D zone), and legally established accessory
dwelling units are exempt from these regulations (M.C. 17.144.020.D).
Table 7 – LUE Table 3, One Percent City Population Growth Projection
Year Approximate Maximum
Number of Dwelling* Anticipated Number of People
2013 20,697 45,541
2015 21,113 46,456
2020 22,190 48,826
2025 23,322 51,317
2030 24,512 53,934
2035 25,762 56,686
Estimated urban reserve capacity: 57,200
Source: Land Use Element, City of San Luis Obispo General Plan, Table 3, page 1 -37.
*2013 population based on CA Department of Finance data. Projected numbers are based
on a 1 percent annual growth rate.
Based on the Community Development Department’s residential building permit data, the City
has maintained an average annual growth rate of .98 percent per year since 2015, in compliance
with the one percent maximum average annual growth rate, as shown in Table 8.
Table 8 – Residential Growth Rates, 2015-2023
Calendar Year
Period New Units Average Annual
Growth Rate
Total Units in the
City in 2023
LUE Estimated Units
in 2023 (1% Growth)
2023 301*
0.98% 22,814* 22,869
2015 - 2023 2,003*
Source: 2023 Building Permits finaled, Community Development Department
*Total units subject to growth management limitations . This total excludes deed-restricted affordable units,
accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and new dwellings in the Downtown Commercial (C -D) Zone.
The all-encompassing unit total in 2023 was 23,402 units.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
22
From 2015 to 2023, the City granted occupancy to 2,608 newly constructed residential units (also
accounting for the 41 units that were demolished between 2015 and 2022). Of the 2,608 units
constructed between 2015-2023, 2,003 units were subject to growth management limitations.
Of the units exempt from the growth management ordinance, 246 units were deed restricted for
affordable housing, 341 units were Accessory Dwelling Units or Junior Accessory Dwelling Units,
and 3 units were located within the Downtown Commercial (C-D) zone. As of 2023, there are a
total of 22,814 residential units subject to the growth management ordinance within the City (as
identified in Table 8 above), where the 2015 LUE estimated 22,869 units for 2023.
The City updated the General Plan Land Use and Circulation Elements in 2015, however, some of
the housing construction occurring today within the Orcutt Area and the Margarita Area was
planned for in the previous General Plan. Due to a variety of factors, some of the development
originally planned in the 1994 General Plan is only now under construction. LUE Policy 1.11.2
(Residential Growth Rate) states that the approved specific plan areas may develop in accordance
with the phasing schedule adopted by each specific plan, provided that thresholds established by
LUE Table 3 are not exceeded. Of the 2,608 units granted occupancy from 2015 to 2023, 1,342 of
the units were located within Specific Plan areas.
Housing production has been a Major City Goal for several financial plans and the City has
prioritized programs that support new housing production. Lack of affordable and workforce
housing continues to be an obstacle for many residents in San Luis Obispo. The good news is that
the City is purposefully growing in alignment with the community’s long-range plans and highest
priorities. Current levels of residential growth are consistent with the City’s Growth Management
Ordinance and the City’s obligations to accommodate its Regional Housing Needs Allocation. The
City has planned its resources to support a “build out” population of 57,200 residents, while the
current State population estimate for the City is 47,788 residents as of January 1, 2023.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Non-Residential Growth
Based on final building permits, 41,363 square feet of net new non-residential floor area was
added to the City in 2023, resulting in an annual growth rate of 0.35 percent. Figure 2 illustrates
the net annual non-residential growth rate from 2019 to 2023. Non-residential growth includes
office, services and manufacturing, retail, hotel, and institutional uses.
Figure 2 - Net Annual Growth Rates of Non-Residential Sectors, 2019-2023
Source: Building Permits Finaled, Community Development Department, 20 23
Note: Demolition of nonresidential square footage included in calculations.
Land Use Element Policy 1.11.4 states that each year, the Council will evaluate the actual increase
in non-residential floor area over the preceding five years. The Council shall consider establishing
limits for the rate of non-residential development if the increase in non-residential floor area for
any five-year period exceeds five percent. The five-year net non-residential growth rate for 2019
through 2023 was 2.35 percent.
Each year, City Council has considered implementing limits on new non-residential floor area and
has decided against establishing limits. If limits are established, they would only apply to certain
types of new commercial floor area, such as new offices or new retail establishments outside of
the downtown core. Since the five-year growth rate is less than five percent (2.35 percent)
establishing limits to new non-residential floor area is not necessary at this time.
0.44%
0.29%
0.56%
0.71%
0.35%
0.00%
0.10%
0.20%
0.30%
0.40%
0.50%
0.60%
0.70%
0.80%
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Gr
o
w
t
h
R
a
t
e
Year
General Plan Annual Report 2023
24
Specific Plan Area Development
The General Plan requires approval of specific plans as a precursor to development of the City’s
major expansion areas. Specific plans typically contain more detailed land-use and design
standards than the General Plan and address the timing and financing of public facilities. Specific
plans can supersede the Zoning Regulations or lead to amendments of the Municipal Code. The
process for adopting a specific plan is similar to the process for adopting or amending a section
of the General Plan.
Margarita Area Specific Plan
The Margarita Area is located in southern San Luis Obispo and is bounded by South Higuera
Street, Broad Street, Tank Farm Road, and the ridge of the South Hills. Primarily envisioned for
residential development with another 68 acres slated for residential and business park uses.
Proposals for the Margarita area thus far have included mainly single-family homes with portions
of open space and pedestrian network advancing.
The Margarita Area is ideally suited to accommodate San Luis Obispo’s planned residential
growth for the near future as the area provides convenient access for residents to employment,
shopping, and recreation. Community goals for this area include up to 868 homes in a wide range
of housing types. Table 9 below displays the status on development in the Margarita Area.
In 2021 the Airport Land Use Plan (ALUP) was amended. As such, several areas of the MASP are
either available for residential development (where it was not allowed before) or available for
higher density residential development. Staff is preparing a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a
consultant to prepare amendments to the MASP that would increase density on existing
residentially zoned land and specifically include opportunities and incentives to develop “Missing
Middle” Housing types as well as allowing mixed-use development on commercially zoned land.
Table 9 - Margarita Area Development Status, 2023
Projects Address Commercial Dwellings Status
Toscano 3000 Calle
Malva
- 168 Construction Complete
Toscano
Affordable
Housing
3065 Lucca
38 Construction Complete
Serra Meadows 408 Prado - 169 Construction Complete
Serra Meadows
Prado Frontage
3420 Serra
Meadows
- 31 Construction Complete
Courtyard at
Serra Meadows
3725
Orcutt
- 36 Construction Complete
Prado Business
Park 301 Prado 159,663 -
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Public Improvements - Under Review
Building Permits – Under Review
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Total 159,663 442
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
Orcutt Area Specific Plan
Nestled at the base of the Santa Lucia foothills, the Orcutt Area provides a variety of scenic
resources for residents of the area and travelers along Orcutt Road and Tank Farm Road,
including views of Righetti Hill, Islay Hill and the Santa Lucia foothills.
Located along the southwestern edge of the city limits of San Luis Obispo and bounded by Orcutt
Road, railroad and Tank Farm Road, the area encompasses 230 acres of land at the base of
Righetti Hill. The Orcutt Area Specific Plan calls for a residential neighborhood with up to 979
homes and a variety of housing types, parks, hiking trails, and recreational opportunities
including bicycle and pedestrian paths, and natural habitat and visual resource protection in
nearby open space areas. Table 10 below displays the status on development in the Orcutt Area.
Table 10 - Orcutt Area Development Status, 2023
Projects Address Dwellings Commercial
Sq. Ft. Status
Bullock Ranch 3580 Bullock 192 585
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Public Improvements - Under Review
Building Permits – Under Review
Pratt Property 3750 Bullock 35 3,400 Planning Entitlements - Approved
Building Permits Issued – Under Construction
Imel Ranch 3777 Orcutt 18 Construction Complete
South Morros 3725 Orcutt 53 Construction Complete
Vinifera 3700 Ranch
House 40 Construction Complete
Righetti Ranch
Subdivision 3987 Orcutt 272
Planning Entitlements - Approved
Public Improvements – Substantially
Complete
Building Permits Issued – Under Construction
Enclave at Righetti 3805 Orcutt 34
Planning Entitlements - Approved
Public Improvements – Substantially
Complete
Building Permits Issued – Under Construction
Tiburon Place
(Affordable) 3750 Bullock 68 Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits Issued – Under Construction
Jones Subdivision 3761 Orcutt 65 Construction Complete
Jones Mixed-Use 3806 Ranch
House 15 7,600 Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Under Review
West Creek: Vintage 1355 Orcutt 105 Construction Complete
West Creek: Noveno 1355 Orcutt 67 Construction Complete
Total 961 11,585
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Airport Area Specific Plan
Located approximately 2.5 miles south of Downtown San Luis Obispo, within the City’s Urban
Reserve, the Airport Area consists of 1,500 acres of land adjacent to the San Luis Obispo County
Regional Airport bordered by the Margarita Area, South Higuera Street, South Broad Street and
Buckley Road.
The Airport Area Specific Plan (AASP) envisions a mixture of open space, agriculture, business
parks and industrial development as well as limited residential development. Plans for the Airport
Area include reuse and regeneration of the natural and built environment; public, private, and
environmental value enhancement; and smart and sustainable growth that benefit the
community economically, aesthetically, and environmentally. Table 11 shows the status of
development within the AASP.
In 2020 the City amended the Zoning Regulations to allow mixed -use development by right within
the Service Commercial (C-S) and Manufacturing (M) zones but did not extend this change to any
of the specific plan areas. With the update and amendment to the ALUP and the recent allowance
for mixed use development in the rest of the City, the City is currently moving forward with an
applicant-funded application to review options for allowing mixed-use development with a
Conditional Use Permit where consistent with the ALUP.
Table 11 – Airport Area Development Status, 2023
Projects Address Dwellings Commercial
Sq. Ft. Status
862 Aerovista 862
Areovista 35,908 Construction Complete
Tank Farm
Commerce Park 179 Cross 29,280
Planning Entitlements - Approved
Building Permits – Issued
Under Construction
650 Tank Farm
Mixed-Use
650 Tank
Farm 239 18,600
Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Under Review
Public Improvements - Under Review
600 Tank Farm
Mixed-Use
600 Tank
Farm 280 12,500 Planning Entitlements - Approved
Public Improvements - Under Review
Northwest Corner 660 Tank
Farm
61,745 Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Under Review
SLO Airport Hotel 950 Aero 204 Rooms Planning Entitlements – Approved
Building Permits – Under Review
Farmhouse
Commercial Campus
1130
Farmhouse
86,020 Planning Entitlements – Under Review
Conserv Fuel Station 4600 Broad 4,800 Planning Entitlements - Approved
Building Permits – Under Review
Total 519 248,853
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
27
Avila Ranch Development Plan
In 2017, the City Council approved the
Avila Ranch project to enable the
development of 720 residential units
and 15,000 square feet of
neighborhood commercial uses on a
150-acre site north of Buckley Road
within the boundaries of the Airport
Area Specific Plan (“AASP”).
Major Development review of the R-2
portion of Phases 1-3 and the R-1
portion of Phase 5 were approved by
the Planning Commission in 2021. The R-2 area includes up to 297 detached for-sale dwelling
units. Building permits for this part of the project have been issued and construction of the
residential units and public improvements are underway. 66 residential units in Phase 1 have
been completed. The R-1 portion includes 101 detached for-sale dwelling units, which have
entitlements approved but have not yet been constructed.
An application for Major Development review for the multi-family R-4 portion of Phase 3 was
approved by Planning Commission on February 14, 2024. The application included a density
bonus request to add an additional 20 affordable units to the site, thereby bringing the total R-4
unit count to 85 market rate units and 60 affordable units. Mass grading for Phases 2-6 is
currently underway. Public improvements for some onsite improvements, including internal
roads, utilities, and some park and landscape areas, as well as some offsite improvements
including the Buckley Road extension, have been substantially completed. Table 12 shows the
status on development in the Avila Ranch area.
Table 12 - Avila Area Development Status, 2023
Projects Address Dwellings Commercial
Sq. Ft. Status
Avila Ranch SFR
Phases 1, 2, & 3 (R-2) 175 Venture 297 -
Planning Entitlements - Approved
Public Improvements – Under Construction
Building Permits Issued – Under
Construction
Avila Ranch
Phases 3 (R-4) 175 Venture 125 -
Planning Entitlements – In process, would
add additional 20 R-4 units
Public Improvements – not submitted
Building Permits – not submitted
Avila Ranch
Phases 4 (R-3)
175 Venture
197 -
Future phase – not yet begun
Avila Ranch
Phase 5 (R-1)
175 Venture
101 -
Planning Entitlements - Approved
Public Improvements – Under Construction
Building Permits – not submitted
Avila Ranch Site Plan
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Avila Ranch Phase 6
(Neighborhood
Commercial)
175 Venture
-
15,000 Future phase – not yet begun
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
Froom Ranch Specific Plan
A major component of the Froom Ranch
Specific Plan is a Life Plan Community (LPC)
known as Villaggio, which would provide
366 independent senior units, 38 assisted
living units, 51 care facility beds, and a
wellness center and ancillary services. In
addition to the LPC, the Specific Plan
includes approximately 174 multi-family
units; 100,000 square feet of commercial
retail uses; a 3.6-acre trailhead park, which
would incorporate onsite historic
structures; and over 60 acres of land
designated for conservation/ open space.
Consideration of the project included
preparation of an EIR.
The City Council certified the Final EIR and approved the Specific Plan, General Plan Amendment,
pre-zoning of the property, the Vesting Tentative Tract Map. City Council authorized submittal of
an annexation application to LAFCO in September 2020. An annexation application was filed in
February 2021 and was approved by LAFCO in October 2021. LAFCO conditions of the annexation
were completed, and the site was annexed into the City of San Luis Obispo in November 2023.
Public improvement Plans for on- and off-site roadway and utility improvements were submitted
to the City for initial plan check in June 2023.
Froom Ranch Site Plan
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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San Luis Ranch Specific Plan
The San Luis Ranch Specific Plan
project includes a mix of 654
residential units, 145,500 square feet
of commercial/retail/restaurant space,
100,000 square feet of office
development, and a 200-room hotel.
The majority of the public
improvements have been completed
including utilities, landscaping, and the
extension of Dalidio Drive and Froom
Ranch Way. Building Permits were
issued in 2022 for the hotel. The
Agricultural Heritage and Learning
Center is nearing completion, including
several new commercial buildings and
the rehabilitation of historic
structures. 384 residential units have
been completed and occupied, and an additional 164 residential units are currently under
construction with issued building permits. Table 13 below displays the status on development in
the San Luis Ranch Area.
Table 13 – San Luis Ranch Area Development Status, 2023
Projects Address Dwellings Commercial
Sq. Ft.
Hotel
Rooms
Office
Sq. Ft. Status
Commercial
Center
1035
Madonna
77 114,300
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements – Partially
Complete
SpringHill
Suites
Hotel
- 200
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements – under
Construction
Building Permits – Under
Construction
NG-10
Single-Unit
Residences
198
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements –
Substantially Complete
Building Permits – Issued, Under
Construction
NG-23
Single-Unit
Residences
83
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements –
Substantially Complete
Building Permits – Issued, Under
Construction
San Luis Ranch Site Plan
General Plan Annual Report 2023
30
NG-30, The
Orchard
Multifamily
Residential
296
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements –
Substantially Complete
Building Permits – Issued
Under Construction
Agricultural
Heritage
and
Learning
Center
- 31,200
Planning Entitlements –
Approved
Public Improvements – Under
Construction
Building Permits – Issued, Under
Construction
Office 100,000 Future phase, no building
permits issued
Total 654 145,500 200 100,000
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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Municipal Code Updates
Downtown Flexible Density Ordinance
The concept of the flexible density program was specifically identified throughout the 2020
Housing Element Update as an opportunity to incentivize housing production within the City’s
urban core and support the production of smaller residential units . On April 18, 2023, the City
Council adopted Ordinance No. 1726 (2023 Series) to implement Housing Element Program 2.15
and Policy 6.6, by adopting the Downtown Flexible Density Program (Chapter 17.141). The main
goals of the program are to help address the local housing demand by facilitating increased
higher density residential infill development in the downtown area near employment centers,
incentivizing smaller units, and diversifying the City’s housing stock. The Downtown Flexible
Density Program is a pilot program with the intent of adding 500 residential units to the City’s
Downtown Core, the program is set to expire on January 1, 2029, or until 500 qualifying units are
entitled or permitted under the program (whichever occurs first). At this time, no permits or
entitlements have been granted for any qualifying units under the program, however, a few
projects have been submitted for pre-application review with considerations of using this
program.
Comprehensive Subdivision Regulations Update
A comprehensive update of the City’s Subdivision Regulations was adopted on June 6, 2023. An
update of the Subdivision Regulations was included as a strategic task of the Housing and
Homelessness Major City Goal. The adopted updates benefit the community by more effectively
implementing the policies and regulations of the General Plan, Zoning Regulations, and Specific
Plans, while also reducing unnecessary and additional review steps through streamlined and
concurrent review; and will allow for superior subdivision design by providing for more flexibility
and innovation as summarized below:
• Implemented Housing Element Policy (HE 6.20): Added subdivision types and clarified
standards to support more flexibility and innovative designs by providing clear
standards and allowed map types for small lot subdivisions (Flexible Lot Design
Subdivisions), and common interest and airspace subdivisions. These updates
implement Housing Element Policy 6.20 which called for updating the regulations to
support small lot subdivisions and other alternatives to conventional subdivision
design.
• Aligned Subdivision Review process to be consistent with the Zoning Regulations for
concurrent review and streamlining the review process for subdivisions submitted in
association with development projects to eliminate extra steps and review of
subdivisions separate from their related development proposals.
• Enhanced “user friendliness” with cross references to other codes and regulations,
reorganization, clarifications to clearly explain subdivision types and review processes,
removal of redundant content, and revision of map terminology consistent with the
Subdivision Map Act and other jurisdictions.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
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• Established City review procedures and standards to implement state legislation (SB 9
Urban Lot Splits)
• Added standards to clarify and implement General Plan Hillside development policies.
Building Code & Reach Code Updates (Clean Energy Program for New Buildings)
All-electric new buildings are cost effective and contribute to public health and safety. In
September 2019, City Council adopted Resolution R-11044 (2019 Series) stating its preference
for all-electric buildings. On August 19, 2020, City Council approved the City’s Climate Action Plan
for Community Recovery, and adopted Resolution 11159 (2020 Series), which includes the goal
of carbon neutrality by 2035 and a building sector goal of zero operational greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions from new buildings by 2020.
In support of achieving these goals, Council adopted the Clean Energy Choice Program for New
Buildings (Program) in 2020, which encouraged all-electric new buildings. Program results
between September 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, show that when provided a choice,
developers selected a mixed-fuel option about half of the time. This rate was not sufficient to
accomplish City adopted goals for GHG emissions reductions. As the 2020 policy was set to expire
at the end of 2022 along with the 2019 California Energy Code, in 2022 staff developed an update
to extend and update the program.
On July 19, 2022, City Council adopted the updated Clean Energy Program for New Buildings,
creating an all-electric requirement for new buildings codified in Title 8 (Health and Safety) of the
Municipal Code. The update considered 2020 Program performance, statewide trends favoring
all-electric new buildings, public health and safety risks from natural gas infrastructure, strategic
City Council direction, and ongoing community engagement including input from lo cal
developers, builders, designers, peer cities, utility partners, and community members. The
updated program went into effect on January 1, 2023.
On April 17, 2023, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in California
Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, that a Berkeley ordinance requiring all-electric new
buildings was pre-empted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) and
was therefore invalid. On April 18, 2023, Council voted to direct the City Manager and Community
Development Director to temporarily suspend enforcement of the all-electric building
requirement for new buildings. On September 19, 2023, the City Council voted to introduce
Ordinance No. 1730, which provides local amendments ( also referred to as a reach code”) to the
California Energy Code for the purpose of reducing energy use and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions in support of the City’s climate action goals.
Public Resources Code Section 25402.1(h)(2) and Section 10-106 of the Building Energy Efficiency
Standards establish a process that allows local adoption of energy standards that are more
stringent than the statewide standards. Under this process, the Cali fornia Energy Commission
requires any local amendments to the California Energy Code that affect energy use in regulated
General Plan Annual Report 2023
33
buildings to be cost effective and use less energy than the standard requirements. At the
September 19, 2023, meeting, Council found the amendments proposed in the Ordinance to
reduce energy and to be cost effective. These findings were based on cost effec tiveness studies
conducted by the California Energy Codes and Standards Statewide Utility Program.
On October 3, 2023, Council adopted an interim energy reach code that began enforcement on
January 1, 2024, and will result in lower building emissions. The reach code will be in place
through December 31, 2025, when a new state energy code will be adopted.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
34
Climate Action Plan
The General Plan includes climate action initiatives in the Land Use, Circulation, Conservation and
Open Space and Water and Wastewater Elements. Specifically, Land Use Policy 9.4 Climate Action
Plan states the City shall maintain and implement its Climate Action Plan to reduce community
and municipal GHG emissions consistent with State Laws and objectives. In 2020, City Council
adopted the Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery (CAP) and set the goal of reaching
community carbon neutrality by 2035 (resolution 11159, 2020 Series). City Council also adopted
the Lead by Example plan for Carbon Neutral City Operations in the summer of 2021 (resolution
11263, 2021 Series), which set the goal for carbon neutral municipal operations by 2030. As part
of the Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Financial Plan, Climate Action was also identified as a Major City
Goal (Climate Action, Open Space, and Sustainable Transportation).
The 2020 CAP directed staff to update the Climate
Action Plan ahead of the 2023-25 Financial Plan,
while Administrative Action 3 directs staff to
provide regular updates about implementation
progress to City Council. In support of this update,
staff conducted an implementation review,
technical review, community engagement, and
assessment of federal, state and other financial
resources—all of which affirmed the 2020 CAP’s
carbon neutrality goal, sector specific goals, and
foundational actions. Given this affirmation of
current approach, staff developed the Climate
Action Plan Update as a set of tasks to be
completed in 2023-27 in support of the existing
adopted goals and actions. The update also
includes a 2020-2022 Progress Update, a summary
of community outreach, work program tasks to be
completed during the 2023-35 and 2025-27
Financial Plans, as well as updated administrative
actions and an implementation table.
On December 13, 2022, the City Council adopted the Climate Action Plan 2023-27 Work Program
(CAP Volume 3). This work program reflects a cross-departmental and multi-sector approach to
climate action that is aligned with the federal government and State of California’s
unprecedented funding and policy support for climate solutions. Looking ahead to the next four
years of local climate projects and programs, the City is prepared to support community -scale
solutions that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission through securing carbon-free electricity,
decarbonizing and electrifying buildings, providing accessible low -carbon transportation options,
creating a robust circular economy around composting organic waste, and continuing to protect
and adapt City open space properties to sequester and store carbon. CAP Volume 3 also informs
the 2023-25 Financial Plan’s process for allocating staff and financial resources. In 2023, the
General Plan Annual Report 2023
35
Climate Action Plan and the 2023-2027 were nationally recognized for innovation in green
planning by the American Planning Association.
Notable Climate Action Plan implementation efforts in 2024 include the various active
transportation, mobility, and land use efforts described in this report, as well as:
• Progress on municipal operations decarbonization, including procurement of electric
vehicles, installation of electric vehicle chargers, and the installation of seven heat pump
hot water heaters.
• Introduction of electric buses to the City’s transit fleet.
• Ongoing participation in Central Coast Community Energy, which has a goal of 100%
carbon free and renewable energy by 2030.
• Review of major development projects for consistency with the Climate Action Plan
• Designation of San Luis Obispo as an “A List” City by the Carbon Disclosure Project
• Direct support for building decarbonization programs to help community members and
affordable housing providers reduce fossil fuel use.
• Successful pursuit of Federal funds to develop a building decarbonization concierge
service.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
36
Economic Development
The City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) was adopted by City Council 2012,
revised in 2015, and completely updated in 2023. The overarching goal of the plan is to continue
to advance the economic vitality of the City of San Luis Obispo and develop strategies that
strengthen the City's economic development efforts while integrating the principles of
sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, the 2023 EDSP applies an emphasis on
the retention of current businesses, the continued expansion of the arts and culture scene, and
ongoing efforts to contribute to the vibrancy of Downtown. The city has also recognized the need
to expand the traditional function of economic development to include practices that incorporate
sustainability and social equity to maximize the community’s economic vitality. The EDSP has
created broad themes that encompass the three following key pillars and their subsequent action
plans:
1. Business & Entrepreneurship Vitality
2. Placemaking & Promotion
3. Talent Development & Attraction
This update is meant to reflect the City’s new priorities, where appropriate, along with its ever -
evolving economic landscape. Careful consideration was made to ensure that the
recommendations that follow fall within the scale and scope of the City’s economic development
function.
Tourism and Community Promotions
The importance of City’s Tourism and Community
Promotions activities as an economic development function
for the City of San Luis Obispo continued to prove vital in
Fiscal Year 2023 and as a result, the City of San Luis Obispo
collected a record breaking $11 million dollars in transient
occupancy tax (TOT). This number represents a 3.6%
increase in revenue compared to FY22, which was previously
the best preforming year in City history. Continuing the FY22
trend of reaching $1 million in revenue collection for a single
month, this fiscal year the City produced five $1 million
revenue months including July, August, September, April
and June. This incredible contribution of TOT revenue into
the City’s General Fund is one of the direct benefits from tourism for the City, as the full collection
of TOT revenue is retained by the City. The FY23 occupancy level in the city saw a slight increase
of 1% compared to FY22, with an average annual occupancy rate of 68% for the year.
During this same period, the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC) continued their
commitment to enhance the San Luis Obispo experience for residents as well as visitors. The PCC
continued a focus on supporting the promotion of public art in the City an d continued the
implementation of the Public Art Promotional Plan. The PCC also continued to utilize the City’s
modified Cultural Grants-in-Aid (GIA) program which provided vital promotional grants to local
General Plan Annual Report 2023
37
non-profit organizations for programs to enrich the social, cultural, and diverse community
events and activities available during this time.
Also continued in FY23, the PCC directed the “Support Local” campaign through the Economic
Development program that included a multi-channel paid advertising plan, local public relations,
social media content strategy and business support. As well as the implementation of third year
of the shopping incentive program called Buy Local Bonus and the new Eat Local Bonus program
in January.
Homestay Rentals
In 2015, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1611 (2015 Series) which specifies rules and
requirements for short-term rentals (commonly referred to as the Homestay program ). This
program was established to provide an expanded type of lodging available within the City and in
order to protect the viability and availability of the City’s housing stock. Vacation Rentals are
illegal in the City of San Luis Obispo to preserve housing stock for residential uses. To ensure that
Homestays do not reduce the amount of housing available for residents, they may only be
established at a property owner’s primary residence.
In the 2023 calendar year, the City approved 16 Homestay Permits, and since the ordinance’s
adoption, the City has approved 196 total Homestay Permits. In an effort to ensure that
Homestays are operating in compliance with the ordinance, the Community Development
Department began proactive compliance enforcement. This work effort consists of maintaining
a database of active permitted and unpermitted homestays within the City’s jurisdiction; ongoing
monitoring for compliance with zoning and permit compliance, including systematic outreach to
non-compliant homestay property owners; and tax remittance monitoring. Since August 2018,
to further support the ongoing tax remittance, the City reached an agreement with Airbnb to
collect Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) and any other required assessments, including Tourism
Marketing District (TMD) and Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) assessments, that
are generated by the operation of a homestay.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
38
Policy Initiatives
Cannabis Business Program
Tax Revenue
The revenue generated from the Cannabis Program helps support a variety of the City’s core
services that everyone in San Luis Obispo can enjoy. Revenue is generated through taxes,
licensing fees, and other financial mechanisms associated with the legal cannabis market. The
City has collected $1.1 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year 2023 and is budgeting for more
than $1.4 million the following fiscal year.
Program Updates
Since the adoption of the Cannabis Program, staff has provided annual updates to City Council as
well as recommendations for code and process improvements. In 2023, staff presented the
Annual Program Update and Council adopted ordinances amending the City’s Cannabis
Regulations and Zoning Regulations to add requirements for owners that lease real property to
commercial cannabis operators, modify specific rules for retail storefront operations, and expand
the Cannabis Business Overlay Zones to include newly annexed areas of the City.
Additionally, Council adopted a resolution amending the Merit Criteria for all permit types to
clarify submittal requirements and points awarded to ensure fair evaluation and ranking of
commercial cannabis operator permit applications.
Application Period
The City opened an application period to receive applications for cannabis operator permits in
July of 2023. Two retail storefront permit applications and one microbusiness application were
received during the application
period. Retail storefronts in the City
are limited to three total, therefore,
only one retail storefront application
may be selected for a Contingent
Operator Permit for the summer
application period. Staff and the
Cannabis Application Review Team
(CART) have initiated the review of all
commercial cannabis applications
and anticipates final decisions in 2024.
Megan’s Organic Market, a Cannabis retail storefront in the City
General Plan Annual Report 2023
39
Water Supply
During the 2023 calendar year, the City obtained water from four sources: Salinas Reservoir
(Santa Margarita Lake); Whale Rock Reservoir; Nacimiento Reservoir; and recycled water from
the City’s Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF).
Table 14 - City Water Resource Availability, 2023
Water Resource 2023 Annual Availability
Salinas Reservoir (Santa Margarita Lake) and
Whale Rock Reservoir 4,910 AF Safe Annual Yield1
Nacimiento Reservoir 5,482 AF Dependable Yield2
Recycled Water 291 AF 2021 Annual Usage3
Siltation to 2060 (500 AF) WWME Policy4 A4.2.24
TOTAL 10,183 AF
Source: Utilities Department, 2023
1Safe Annual Yield is the quantity of water which can be withdrawn every year while operating both reservoirs in coordinated operations under
critical drought conditions. The City’s Safe Annual Yield Model was updated in 2018 to reflect drought conditions that ended in 2017.
2Dependable Yield is the contractual amount of water the City has right to from Nacimiento Reservoir.
3The quantity of recycled water included is the actual prior year’s recycled water usage (2022) per WWE A7.2.2.
4Reservoir siltation is a natural occurrence that reduces storage capacity over long periods, resulting in the reduction of safe annual yield.
In 2023, availability from the City’s
water sources equaled 10,183
acre-feet, as shown in Table 14.
This supply meets the projected
primary water supply need at
General Plan build out of 7,496
acre-feet, plus an additional 1,252
acre-feet for a reliability reserve
and a secondary water supply of
1,435 acre-feet.
The primary water supply was calculated using the City’s build-out population (57,200 people)1
and the water use rate of 117 gallons per capita. The reliability reserve was calculated using the
City’s estimated 2023 population (47,788) and 20 percent of the aforementioned water use rate.
The secondary water supply includes the remaining water resources. Additional information is
available in the City’s annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment.
1The City’s population projection of 57,200 persons, from the General Plan Land Use Element, is based one percent growth annually between
2014 and 2035. By policy, certain housing types and areas are excluded from this growth rate and projection (affordable housing, etc.). The
City’s estimated Primary Water Supply need is based on projected population but encompasses all water demand in the City (residential, non-
residential, and irrigation).
Whale Rock Reservoir
General Plan Annual Report 2023
40
Transportation & Circulation
Sustainable transportation was identified as a Major City Goal (Climate Action, Open Space, and
Sustainable Transportation) as part of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Financial Plan, and again in the
2023-25 Financial Plan. The following transportation planning/engineering projects and
programs were implemented in 2023 as part of the City’s sustainable transportation Major City
Goal, consistent with goals and policies in the Circulation Element of the General Plan.
Vehicular
• Numerous traffic safety improvements
were implemented as part of the City’s
Traffic Safety Program to address collision
trends and resident safety concerns,
including striping modifications, sign
replacements, and sight distance
improvements at several intersections.
• Numerous traffic signal and intersection
optimization improvements were completed as part of the City’s ongoing traffic signal
management responsibilities.
• Design for the roundabout at California and Taft Streets is 90% complete. Acquisition of
remaining right-of-way is currently in progress.
• Signal modifications completed
and in progress at several
intersections to address collision
trends and pedestrian
accessibility, such as addition of
lead pedestrian crossing intervals
at several intersections,
reconstruction of the Santa Rosa
Street/Monterey Street traffic
signal, and addition of ADA-
compliant pedestrian push
buttons at several intersections.
• Two mobile speed feedback
trailers were deployed at over 50
locations consistent with the City’s
radar sign program.
• 13 new path lights and two new
full-height streetlights are in construction in the 2023 calendar year, including new
lighting at the US 101/Chorro Street undercrossing as part of the North Chorro Greenway
project.
Vision Zero traffic safety program
Traffic signal modifications at Santa Rosa/Monterey
General Plan Annual Report 2023
41
• Progress continues with preliminary engineering and environmental review for the Prado
Rd / US 101 Interchange Project, which is anticipated to begin construction in 2027.
• Final Design, permitting and Right-of-way work continues with the Prado Road Bridge
Replacement over San Luis Obispo Creek. The Prado Bridge Project construction is
anticipated to begin in 2025 and should be complete prior to the start of construction for
the Prado Interchange.
• The Righetti Ranch development completed frontage improvements and landscaping
along Orcutt Road in 2023, which added curb/gutter/sidewalk, landscaped parkway and
widened 6 foot bike lanes, as well as a continuous two-way-left-turn-lane along Orcutt
Road.
Rendering of the Prado Road / Highway 101 Overpass
Rendering of the Prado Road Bridge Replacement at San Luis Obispo Creek
General Plan Annual Report 2023
42
Bicycle / Pedestrian
• The 2022 Paving Project was finally completed in 2023 and included resealing 4.8 million
square feet of roadway and implementing numerous traffic safety elements to improve
mobility for all roadway users in the Laguna Lake, Foothill and downtown areas consistent
with the Circulation Element, Active
Transportation Plan, Downtown Concept
Plan, and Vision Zero Policy.
Improvements included completion of
three new neighborhood greenway routes,
prioritizing walking and biking with traffic
calming elements, installation of 40 new
accessible curb ramps, and completing
protected bike lanes on Marsh Street
through the downtown core as well as
permanently installing a green buffered
bike lane on Higuera Street through the
downtown core.
• Enhanced bicycle and pedestrian crossings were installed as part of the 2023 Pedestrian
Crossing Improvements Project. Work included installation of Rectangular Rapid Flashing
Beacon (RRFB) systems,
high-visibility crosswalk
markings and warning
signage at the intersections
of Johnson/Sydney,
King/South, Osos/Islay, and
Broad/Islay. The project also
included a pilot road diet
project on Johnson Avenue
between Bishop Street and
Laurel Lane, which has been
successful in decreasing
illegal speeding and
improving pedestrian and
bicycle crossing safety.
• Annual transportation safety educational activities continued throughout 2023, including
Walk & Bike to School Days, Bike Month, Rideshare Week, Reflective Halloween Bag
distribution, the Bike Light Education Pop-up, and ongoing coordination with educational
programs in cooperation with Bike SLO County.
New Bike Lanes in Downtown
New Pedestrian Crossing Improvements
General Plan Annual Report 2023
43
• Construction began on the North
Chorro Neighborhood Greenway, a
1.7 mile bicycle/pedestrian route
connecting the north Foothill
neighborhoods into Downtown, 43
new accessible curb ramps, 60 new
street trees, hi-visibility crosswalks
throughout the corridor, and path
lighting and gateway elements at
the Chorro Underpass. Project is
scheduled for completion Spring
2024.
• Public outreach and design work
continues on the Higuera Complete Street Project. The project includes multimodal
transportation and safety improvements along the Higuera Street corridor from Marsh
Street south to the City Limits. The project is planned to include addition of protected
bike lanes, bicycle and pedestrian crossing improvements, updated pavement surface and
roadway markings. The project is funded by over $8 million in grant funding. Project
outreach, design and environmental review will proceed through 2024, with construction
start planned for early 2025.
• The City’s supply of short-term bicycle parking continued to expand as part of the City’s
“Racks with Plaques” bicycle rack donation program.
• Bike valet parking service was offered at Farmer’s Market and at Concerts in the Plaza.
North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway Construction
Rendering of the Planned Higuera Complete Street Project
General Plan Annual Report 2023
44
SLO Transit
SLO Transit operations in 2023 included the following:
• SLO Transit received its first electric buses from New Flyer and Proterra which are
currently in service on the 2A and 2B routes. Charging infrastructure needed to
support the electric buses is nearing completion .
• In October 2023, SLO Transit partially restored services beyond the modified academic
schedule that has been in use since the onset of the pandemic. The service restoration
is due to a recent increase in drivers. SLO Transit currently has 22 full-time drivers with
full Academic Service requiring 32 drivers.
• SLO Transit reinstated the Laguna Tripper in fall 2023 thus providing better access to
Laguna Middle School for students. SLO Transit also reinstated the Famer’s Market
Trolley and the Holiday Trolley which runs for the month of December 2023.
• Ridership continues to recover post-pandemic. SLO Transit reported over 515,000
riders for fiscal year 2022-23 of which almost 328,000 were Cal Poly riders. Staff
anticipates a continued increase in riders as more services are restored and as Cal Poly
returns to 100% in-person instruction.
• In September 2023, Council approved funds to be as hiring incentives and retention
bonuses to help attract and retain bus drivers. Staff is currently negotiating terms with
their operations contractor.
• In August 2023, the City completed its Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Triennial
Review of SLO Transit’s operations for reporting years 2020-2022.
• A Transit Innovation Study was completed in 2023 and will go before Council for
consideration in January 2024. Staff is developing an implementation plan for the
recommendations listed in the report.
• Council approved amendments to the Mass Transportation Committee bylaws
expanding the qualifications for certain positions to help attract new members.
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Education was provided to SLO Transit operations and
maintenance staff. The educational opportunity will be offered annually and updated
as new pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is implemented throughout the City.
• In July 2023, the City issued a
purchase order for six (6) new
battery electric buses that are
scheduled for delivery in
summer 2025. The order puts
SLO Transit ahead of the state’s
mandates for zero-emission bus
adoption. Staff secured
financing for an additional order SLO Transit Buses
General Plan Annual Report 2023
45
of two (2) more battery electric buses and anticipate issuance of a purchase order in
Spring 2024.
Parking Management
Parking Management major focus areas in 2023 included:
• Council adoption of the Access and Parking Management Plan
• Installation of gateless technology at one of the three City parking structures
• The City Council approved and implemented a parking rate change in the downtown area
that went into effect July 1, 2023.
• Implementation of a Park Local Pilot Program to provide one hour free in the 842 Marsh
gateless parking structure to San Luis Obispo County residents. Ultimately, this pilot
program was concluded in November 2023.
• The City secured financing, awarded a construction contract, and began construction on
the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure, which will be the City’s fourth parking
structure and will be located at the corner of Palm and Nipomo.
• Council took action to provide free parking during the following times to support
downtown commerce, beginning Thanksgiving Day:
o One free hour for all users in the parking structures until June 30, 2025
o Free parking in structures on Sundays until June 30, 2025
o Free on-street and structure parking on December 1, 2023, between 6 PM to
midnight during the annual holiday parade.
• Ordinance was passed to allow for electric vehicle charging at City park parking lots at any
time of day.
• The division continued to assist with the Safe Parking Program, located at Railroad Square
until the program concluded in the fall of 2023 .
• The division continued modernization efforts, upgrading several multi-space pay-stations.
• The division continues to expand its marketing campaign to increase communication with
the community including distribution of informational flyers to downtown businesses
about changes to parking.
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46
Major City Goals for FY 2023-25:
Climate Action, Open Space & Sustainable Transportation - To proactively address the climate
crisis, continue to update and implement the Climate Action Plan for carbon neutrality, including
preservation and enhancement of open space and the urban forest, alternative and sustainable
transportation, and planning and implementation for resilience.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) - In response to our commitment to making San Luis Obispo
a more welcoming and inclusive city for all, continue to develop programs and policies to support
diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and advance the recommendations of the DEI Task Force
Economic Resiliency, Cultural Vitality and Fiscal Sustainability - In collaboration with local
partners, implement initiatives that reinforce a thriving and sustainable local economy, support a
diverse, inclusive, and vibrant community, preserve arts and culture, and ensure fiscally responsible
and sustainable city operations.
Housing and Homelessness - To expand housing options for all, continue to facilitate the production
of housing, including the necessary supporting infrastructure, with an emphasis on affordable and
workforce housing. Collaborate with local non-profit partners and the county, the state, and federal
governments to discover and implement comprehensive and effective strategies to reduce chronic
homelessness.
General Plan Annual Report 2023
47
Safety Services
Fire Department
Climate Adaptation and Safety Element Policy OP-7.1 states that there should be adequate
planning, organization, and resources for emergency preparedness and emergency response.
Staff has made several accomplishments in 2023 to meet this policy and have highlighted some
of them below.
Administration
Public Information: SLOFD continued to increase Public Information services in 2023 by
expanding the Department’s communication through increased social media presence and
activity, utilizing an updated and comprehensive social media calendar which was integrated into
the City’s master communications calendar, and an ongoing bi-weekly standing segment with
KVEC radio to discuss department programs, safety tips, and disaster preparedness information.
With the PIO role being formalized at the end of 2019, the department has continually increased
its ability to provide the media and public w ith accurate and timely incident information. Public
Information plays a critical role in educating the public to reduce the severity of emergencies and
allows the public to make the right decisions during an emergency. As shown in Figure 3, In 2023,
the department’s Instagram account saw a 142% percent increase in followers. Per Instagram
analytics and insights, nearly 50% of the department’s followers are local residents. Additionally,
two extensive public outreach campaigns were conducted in 2023 to promote Wildfire Readiness
Night in the summer and Community Flood Readiness night in the fall.
Figure 3 - Fire Department Social Media Platform Growth 2023
Source: SLO Fire Department, 2023
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
X (formerly Twitter)Instagram Facebook
2022 Followers 2023 Followers
General Plan Annual Report 2023
48
Operations
Emergency Response: In 2023, SLOFD responded to 7,428 incidents from four strategically placed
fire stations throughout the city. This number is 3.73 percent higher than 2022. Emergency
response was accomplished with daily minimum staffing of 14 sworn personnel. To help maintain
the daily minimum of emergency response personnel, the city has continued its investment in
two important programs including a functional movement program to reduce the occurrence and
severity of physical injuries and a Peer Support Team Program to maintain the mental health and
wellbeing of department personnel.
In 2017, after transitioning to ImageTrend, the Fire Department’s data and report management
system, SLOFD has an increased ability to analyze response data including response times. The
city’s 2023 safety element references the fire department’s master plan objectfve to respond to
all lights and sirens emergencies within 4 minutes or less 90% of the tfme. New ImageTrend
Contfnuum software deployed in 2023 has allowed the fire departm ent to further study its
response tfmes using key performance indicator dashboards and special study analysis on unique
populatfons like students and the unhoused. The fire department plans to join the County of San
Luis Obispo’s patfent care reportfng system in 2024, unifying most emergency medical service
providers in the county on a common platiorm. The fire department deployed field fire
inspectfon data collectfon tools in 2023 using new software that combines fire reportfng with fire
inspectfons.
Open Space Rescue Operations: In 2023, the
Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue
(USAR) Team continued to play a vital role in
protecting the lives of both visitors and citizens
alike. Members of the USAR Team receive
specialized training in complex and technical
rescue operations and also take part in the San
Luis Obispo County Regional USAR Team. In
January of 2024, the department will be
expanding the USAR Team from six members to
nine. This will increase the likelihood that
multiple USAR specialists will be on duty on any given day, thereby increasing the department’s
level of operational readiness. The Fire Department, along with its USAR Team members,
responded to 16 technical rescues and medical emergencies in open space areas in and around
the city during 2023. Among the significant incidents were rescues on Madonna Mountain,
Bishop Peak, Irish Hills, Cal Poly, and Reservoir Canyon.
The Fire Department’s open space rescue programs continue to develop. Many of the open space
rescues, especially in the area of Bishop Peak, require the use of a helicopter to locate, access,
and transport victims. The department works closely and trains frequently with the California
Open Space Rescue and Expanded Technical Rescue Team
General Plan Annual Report 2023
49
Highway Patrol, which operates the rescue helicopter in this county. In addition to the
cooperation with CHP for air resources, two key contributors to the continued success of the fire
department’s open space rescue program have been both the E-Bike Program, which was
implemented in 2020, and the Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) program. Both pieces of equipment
have been invaluable to locating, transporting, and caring for people in open space in a very
timely manner. Our UTV program is also utilized through Mutual Aid to assist our neighboring
fire departments.
Mobile Crisis Unit: The Mobile Crisis Unit (MCU)
continues to operate in the community and
provides response to behavioral health incidents
in both a proactive and reactive manner. The MCU
has been funded for a two-year trial period. Law
Enforcement (LE) and Fire Service (FS) resources
are often summoned for persons in crisis within
communities across the nation, as a one size fits
all solution for a broad spectrum of problems
ranging from homelessness to mental illness to
addiction. As a result, these individuals in crisis
often do not get connected to the most
appropriate resources available to provide them
assistance. To help provide a more tailor-fit service to our community members in crisis, the MCU
pairs a mental health professional with a fire department EMT or paramedic to respond to these
types of incidents. The benefits of this new service increase the level of service to those in need
and decrease the reliance on emergency law enforcement and fire service resources who have
limited options and tools to address the individual in crisis. Having a fire department EMT or
paramedic as part of the MCU team gives them the ability to recognize and identify individuals
having acute medical emergencies, allowing them to summon he most appropriate resources.
A leading MCU goal is to provide an alternative resource program to handle non-emergency 911
calls for service to increase capacity of both police officers for more urgent criminal emergencies
and fire personnel for higher acuity emergencies. The program seeks to respond to the root
issues through shelter, medical care, or behavioral health support and services to decrease the
number of arrests, county jail time, fines, hospitalization, and nuisance fires.
During the trial period, the MCU will be staffed during peak activity hours of 8am to 5pm Monday
through Friday reflective of current SLOPD and SLOFD response data. An eventual
implementation of a 24/7 service may be warranted based on the impact of the program’s ability
to meet the needs of the community, reduce LE/FS resource impacts, and decrease
hospitalization and arrest/jail time. In addition, the program may integrate into a regional
program overseen by SLO County Mental Health Services Department.
Mobile Crisis Unit, Case Worker – Scott Giem
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50
In 2022, substantial work was done researching the program goal, objectives, developing policy,
job descriptions, RFP’s and securing the logistical needs of the program. The program went live
in July 2022. In 2023, the MCU responded to a total of 265 calls for service and 3285 field contacts.
These field contacts resulted in the MCU being able to provide transport to alternate facilities
(other than local hospital Emergency Departments) a total of 56 times. Working with fellow
stakeholders, the MCU Team was able to facilitate the reunification of 91 individuals with their
family, friends, or other out-of-area support networks.
Training
CASE Program OP-7.18 “Staff Training” states that they will train fire fighters, police officers,
building inspectors, and public works and utilities staff to levels appropriate for their tasks and
responsibilities. In 2022, the Fire Department employed 49 sworn positions and 12.5 non-sworn
positions for a total of 57.5 full-time employees.
Fire Department employees logged nearly 24,000 hours of training in 2023. Employees who are
eligible to participate in the Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) registered a total of 16,298.25
hours in 2023. JAC provides reimbursable funds back to the department. The JAC training
resulted in over $36,000 in funds returned to the department in 2023, a $8,000 increase from
2022. These funds are held by the JAC program and can be utilized to support the department’s
training program upon approval from the sub-JAC committee which is comprised of department
and labor group leadership. Increased training results in a higher skilled and educated
professional firefighter. The department has also reached an Instructional Service Agreement
(ISA) with Allan Hancock College, which allows the department to receive compensation for the
training of personnel that do not qualify for the JAC program.
Non-sworn employees attended several key trainings to maintain levels appropriate for their
tasks and responsibilities in 2023. Some of these trainings included attendance at the bi-annual
California Conference of Arson Investigators, and State Fire investigation training. The recently
hired Fire Inspector completed State Fire Marshal Fire Inspector I certification training. Our Fire
Mechanic staff attending training to maintain their certifications and also to learn about new
technologies in fire apparatus, including electric fire apparatus, which are becoming more
common across the nation. In 2022, the Training Division completed the multi-year project of
implementing the SLO Ops Command and Control program, which meets industry standards and
the requirements of ICS 500 regarding the use of Incident Comman d at structure fires. This
program is designed to eliminate the occurrence of ICS-related mistakes that are considered the
top five causal factors of firefighter line-of-duty deaths. The Training Division continues to adapt
this program to additional types of emergencies, applying it to multi-family residential fires,
commercial fires, and wildland fires.
During 2023, the training division successfully hosted multiple courses through State Fire
Training, including Haz Mat IC, S-215, Company Officer 2A, Company Officer 2B, Company Officer
2C courses in 2023. By hosting classes, the department was able provide employees with 27 Ca
State Fire Marshall certificates. Hosting classes for succession planning in the Captain rank help
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51
the training division provide $90,269 worth of training for only $4,510. The Training Division was
able to offset that cost by generating $6,790 in registration fees from students from outside
agencies.
New Training Officer: As part of the 2021-23 Financial plan, the Fire Department added a full
time 40-hour Staff Fire Training and Safety Officer. The position, which was filled in August 2021,
assumed a wide range of training duties includ ing planning, scheduling, supervising, and
administering a comprehensive fire training program and coordinating the in-service training and
safety programs for the Fire Department. The Training Officer also assists in the operation and
coordination of in‐service training and safety programs with shift Battalion Chiefs.
The Training Captain oversees the Injury Prevention Program , which has continued to show
success in reducing hours lost to work-related injuries. Prior to the start of the program in 2019,
the Fire Department totaled 11,550 hours of work comp time lost. In 2022, comp time hours lost
decreased to 8,606 hours, a 26 percent reduction. To date in 2023 total comp time hours lost is
7,277. The new positions help provide consistent and reliable administration and coordination
of all mandatory, recertification, and recommended in‐service training and safety programs for
emergency response, which is necessary as the complexity and changing service demands call for
specialized instruction. In addition, the Fire Training and Safety Officer respond s to emergency
incidents in the primary role of operational support and as the incident safety officer to identify
and cease preventable accidents or potentially unsafe situations.
The Training Captain also manages the fire intern program. In 2023, the Fire Department
employed three interns, sponsoring one intern through a Firefighter 1 academy at Allan Hancock
College. The Fire Intern Program has assisted staff with the firefighter recruit academy, special
projects, administrative duties, public education, facility maintenance , and station logistical
support.
Interagency Training: The Training Division coordinated joint training with inter and intra-
departmental entities, preparing our employees for all types of emergencies. Those included:
• Active Shooter Training with SLOPD - Laguna Middle School
• County WUI Drill - Camp Roberts (prepares members on how to respond to wildland
emergencies in urban areas
• County Impact Burn - Prepares members to utilize fire to assist with control and
containment of large wildland fires.
• Confined Space - Joint training with wastewater on response to emergencies at lift
stations throughout the city
• Open Space Rescue - Joint training with the county USAR team on responses to the poly
canyon open space area. Conducted specialized training with CHP helicopter H70 on
extracting victims from remote open space locations.
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52
• Cal Poly - Conducted training at Cal Poly on fire suppression and rescue at dormitory style
residences. Simulated training smoke was used to help train crews on understanding how
to search dormitory or student type residences.
Recruit Academy: The SLOFD Recruit Fire Academy is ten weeks long and is delivered through a
distributed learning model. The curriculum covers 15 areas of core firefighter competencies
within five blocks of instruction, with each block consisting of two weeks. Each block o f
instruction is delivered through classroom lecture and daily manipulative skills on the drill
ground. At the end of each block, recruits are tested utilizing a block written examination and
multiple manipulative skills examinations. Each block of instruction builds upon the previous
block and becomes increasingly more difficult. Throughout the ten -week academy, recruits are
evaluated within the three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. This is to
ensure proper retention, recognition, and application through real time scenarios and live burn
operations throughout the academy and gives them opportunity to apply and perform their
newly attained skills in high stress situations. Upon successful completion, the recruit f irefighter
has met the NFPA 1001 standard for professional qualifications for firefighting. SLOFD completed
one academy in 2023, training seven firefighters and firefighter/ paramedics to deliver
exceptional service to the community.
Wellness and Fitness Initiative (WFI): The WFI program was created in 2018 to help improve the
fitness, health, and wellness of fire department emergency response staff, improving the
department’s ability to provide service to the community. In 2023 the WFI team once again
brought in a nutrition coach to help teach members not only nutrition principles for healthier
living but also sleep deprivation training and stress management. The WFI team is working to
renovate the Fire Station 1 gym so that it can accommodate a growin g workforce. This enables
staff to host more injury prevention trainings with a larger facility, including training recruit
firefighters during the 10-week academy. The department continues to have a productive
relationship with CJPIA, where members can see Dr. Ormonde for training sessions related to
non-work-related ailments at no cost to the fire department.
The success of this program has been shared with neighboring fire agencies in the county, where
CJPIA is providing similar funding to Five Cities Fire Authority, Paso Fire, Atascadero Fire , and
Morro Bay Fire, are following our program to reduce injuries in their agencies as well. SLOPD has
also begun working with CJPIA and Dr. Ormonde based on the Fire Department WFI program and
lessons learned since the inception of the program. The Fire Department continues to champion
the effort to provide more resilient, healthy, and fit employees. The WFI program will continue
to bring more training aimed at strengthening and improving individual fitness, additional muscle
recovery equipment, improving cardiac health through nutritional cons ulting and training, and
last, identifying and possibly implementing the use of infrared saunas to reduce the likelihood of
job-related cancer.
California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS): The California Incident Command
Certification System (CICCS) is a cooperative effort between the State Fire Marshal’s Office and
the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Fire and Rescue Branch. CICCS is an all -
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53
hazard qualification and certification system that enhances the ability of the State of California
to deploy firefighting resources to complex and catastrophic incidents with trained and qualified
personnel. The system includes development of personnel in key field positions of the ICS system,
minimum training standards, qualification, and experience requirements when assigned to
wildland/urban interface incidents. To achieve these standards and qualifications, personnel
must meet the minimum requirements for each ICS position they choose to work in. The
minimum qualifications require prospective candidates for each ICS position to take multiple
week-long classes. They then fill out an application that includes certifications from the required
classes, experience level, and a letter of support from their perspective fire department. This
application is then sent to the CICCS committee for review and approval to become a trainee in
the position. Then they are required to open a task book. The task book involves going out on all
hazard incidents as a trainee assigned to a trainer. They are then taught and evaluated on specific
aspects of the position by the trainee. This requirement often takes two or more years and
multiple assignments on incidents. Once the task book is complete, all the documentation is
submitted to the CICCS committee for review and final approval to work in the position. These
expanded roles allow for a greater depth of knowledge and qualification that further improves
personnel capabilities. This process provides a benefit for the individual and each department
the individual works for. By being qualified to work in different ICS positions, the individual can
then work in these positions both out of the area and in their department in the event an incident
occurs within the city they work for.
Emergency Management
Climate Adaptation & Safety Element (CASE) Policy OP-7.1, Emergency Preparedness and
Response ensures that that City and all relevant City departments have adequate planning,
organization, and resources for emergency preparedness and emergency response. Staff has
made several accomplishments in 2023 to meet this policy and have highlighted some of them
below.
Coordinated Emergency Planning & Training: Safety Element Program OP-7.15 states that the
City will work within the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), an emergency
response and coordination system used throughout California, the National Incident
Management System (NIMS), and the National Response Framework (NRF). Additionally, the City
will participate in periodic disaster-response drills, on a regional basis with all involved
jurisdictions and involving the news media. CASE Program OP-7.18 states that the City will
conduct disaster-City Operations and Emergency Services response exercises for the types of
non-nuclear disasters discussed in the CASE, coordinated with participation in required, periodic
nuclear-disaster response training exercises. All public employees in the State of California are
considered Disaster Service Workers (DSW) and as such the city will train all employees to ensure
basic understanding of DSW responsibilities, the Standardized Emergency Management System,
National Incident Management System, and the Incident Command System.
In 2023, the City’s Emergency Manager ensured the Fire Department maintained the ability to
effectively manage the City’s emergency management program which includes emergency
General Plan Annual Report 2023
54
planning, training, staff preparedness, community preparedness, and hazard mitigation project
support.
The Fire Department continued coordination with every City department to ensure all
employees, including City Council members, have completed the proper SEMS and National
Incident Management System (NIMS) training courses. This training is a requirement to receive
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance during a disaster. In 2023, the City
rolled out a new required SEMS course for all employees, "G-606, an introduction to SEMS” which
was identified as a training need after consultation with state and federal trai ning partners. All
City employees are required to take a combination of IS-100, IS-700, and G-606, to prepare to be
a disaster service worker during an emergency or disaster. Additionally, other employees are
required to take IS-200, IS-800, and IS-908 based in their likely role during emergencies.
Additionally, staff has worked with Human Resources to ensure that new employees complete
the necessary training in relation to their job in the city. This program will continue to grow in
2024 with general disaster service worker training.
City Staff activated the Emergency Operations Center three times in 2023, thus implementing the
Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Pursuant to state regulations for proclaimed emergencies,
staff conducted thorough after-action reviews of the activations and developed corresponding
action plans for remediation of identified gaps. The EOP was revised where necessary and policy
and procedures across the city were amended to fill observed gaps in EOC performance and
response.
The EOP is in place to describe the City of San Luis Obispo policies and concept of operations for
responding to major emergencies or disasters that could affect the health, safety, and property
of the public within the City of San Luis Obispo and exceeds the capabilities of day-to-day city
operations. The EOP includes hazard specific annexes including Earthquake, Hazardous Materials,
Multiple Casualty, Transportation, Fire, Civil Disturbance-Terrorism-Active Shooter, Diablo
Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Adverse Weather, Extended Utility Disruption, and Pandemic. This
plan will be reviewed and exercised periodically and revised as necessary to satisfy changing
conditions and needs.
Preparedness Education: CASE Program MH-1.10
states that the city will work with community
organizations to educate individuals and
households about strategies to increase
preparedness for emergency events and climate-
related impacts. In 2023, the Fire Department
offered several public events to improve disaster
and emergency readiness including wildfire
readiness night, community flood readiness night,
the fire department’ annual Fire Prevention Week
Open House, and a Parks & Recreation Monday
Meet Up event. SLO Fire Dept. Preparedness Education
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55
Staff continued to disseminate the many preparedness fliers and videos that were created as part
of the “Prepare SLO” campaign to ensure the public continued to have the most up to date tools
and information at their disposal. Preparedness resources are available to the public on the
department website and social media accounts. Additionally, during the bi-weekly department
appearance on the local KVEC First Take radio show, staff provide important safety and disaster
preparedness tips to the community.
Risk Reduction & Fire Prevention
Hazard Mitigation: The most recent update of the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan was completed
in 2020 as the 2019 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), which was formally
adopted by the City Council in 2020 after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
and California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) reviewed and approved the plan. This HMP
serves as the mandatory update to the City’s 2014 Local HMP (LHMP). The HMP is incorporated
by reference into the CASE and should be consulted when addressing known hazards to ensure
the general health and safety of people within the City of San Luis Obispo. It provides guidance
on how to reduce the community’s vulnerability to natural hazards. This plan calls for annual
stakeholder meetings to update progress and identify collaborative opportunities. The city is
required to maintain a current HMP, which must be updated every five years and in 2023 signed
a letter of commitment to participate in the 2025 MHP Update with th e County of San Luis
Obispo. Maintaining a current HMP allows the city to apply for State and Federal reimbursement
in the event that the City is impacted by a disaster.
Program FI-5.12 of the CASE states that the City should Continue to implement the City’s
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to reduce wildfire risk in the City’s wildland-urban
interface including implementation of the CWPP Tactical Policy Measures which focus on the four
key policy areas of community education, fuels management, planning, and emergency response
preparedness on an ongoing basis. As part of hazard mitigation, SLOFD finalized the City’s first
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) in July of 2019 . The CWPP is a collaborative plan to
guide the city in addressing fire protection planning efforts occurring in the city to minimize
wildfire risk to watershed lands, assets, firefighters, and the public. The CWPP presents the City’s
physical and social characteristics, wildfire history, identifies and evaluates landscape-scale fire
hazard variables, utilizes priority landscape datasets for evaluating wildfire risk, identifies
strategic measures for reducing structural ignitability, public education, and outreach, and
identifies strategic fuel reduction goals and techniques for minimizing wildfire risk. The CWPP is
intended to be a living document managed and updated by the City Fire Department with
stakeholder input and involvement.
Staff utilized the plan to act in 2023, including public education and fuel reduction efforts. City
staff continued to provide wildfire preparedness tools to the community through news releases,
webinars, social media, and a Wildfire Readiness Night held in June. The Fire Department also
coordinated with the Office of Sustainability and Natural Resources and Parks & Recreation
Ranger Service to conduct fuel reduction efforts along San Luis Obispo Creek, the Irish Hills Open
Space, San Luis Drive, and Cerro San Luis Open Space.
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56
Per Program FI-5.12, the CWPP is scheduled to be updated in 2024. Staff will be working with
partners at the San Luis Obispo Fire Safe Council to accomplish this effort in the new year.
Multi-Dwelling Property Inspection Program: Under the direction of the Fire Marshal, the Fire
Prevention Bureau inspects all multi-dwelling properties (three or more units) in the City to
ensure that they meet a reasonable degree of fire and life safety. This state -mandated program
helps safeguard residents and visitors who patronize local hotels and generates approximately
$350,000 in annual revenue that offsets implementation costs. The Fire Prevention Bureau
completed 545 inspections of apartments, hotels, and fraternity/sorority houses in 2023.
Fire and Life Safety Inspections: SLOFD completed 1,328 fire and life safety inspections for
businesses in 2023. Of this inspection total, Fire Prevention Bureau staff completed xxx
inspections of schools (3), hospitals (2) day care centers (12) and assisted living centers (4), and
large public assembly occupancies (43). A portion of these inspections resulted in Fire Code
operating permits, which generates about $100,000 in annual revenue.
Fire and Life Safety Self-Inspection Program: In January of 2021
the Fire Department implemented the Fire and Life Safety Self-
Inspection Program which allows certain business in San Luis
Obispo complete these inspections in lieu of a fire department
staff member or engine company. Businesses that qualify for
this program have been chosen due to the low hazard
associated with their business practices. These include small
professional offices and some low hazard retail establishments.
Of the 1,200-1,300 qualifying businesses, only about 30chose to
participate in 2023. Additional resources may be necessary to
effectively follow up on these inspections to increase
participation.
Hazardous Materials Inspections: Hazardous Materials Inspections: The Fire Prevention Bureau
serves as a “Participating Agency” in the County’s Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA).
Businesses that use or store hazardous materials in an appreciable quantity, generate hazardous
wastes, or operate underground or aboveground petroleum storage tanks are subject to
inspection. The Hazardous Materials Coordinator conducted 233 facility inspections in 2023. This
program generated approximately $217,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2022-2023.
Vegetation Management: With the addition of a half-time fire inspector the Fire Prevention
Bureau was able to take a proactive role in Weed Abatement. The Bureau mailed out 75 courtesy
letters to property owners with a history of enforcement. Due to the early notification only two
dozen required follow up enforcement, leading to compliance within 30 days. The Fire
Department continued to support Natural Resources and Parks and Recreation Ranger Service in
the fuel reduction projects in City-owned Open Space and creek corridors. In 2023, City staff
continued along the Bob Jones Bike Trail and San Luis Obispo Creek between Prado Road and Los
Osos Valley Road, San Luis Drive, removing dead and down material from the creek as well as
Fire and Life Safety Self Inspection Program
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removing smaller vegetation creating a shaded fuel break along the creek corridor behind the
Water Resource Recovery Facility and nearby critical facilities. Additionally, fuel reductions
efforts were continued in the Bowden Ranch Open Space, Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve with
staff support from Ranger Service’s Open Space Technicians (supplemental staff positions) and
help from the California Conservation Corps crews. One particularly impactful project in 2023
was the removal of invasive Arundo plants, similar to bamboo, in San Luis Obispo Creek west of
Los Osos Valley Road. Arundo is a highly invasive species that presents both a hazardous fire and
flood threat, and negatively impacts the natural ecosystem.
In 2023, the Fire Department also worked closely with the County Fire Safe Council to support
future vegetation management projects into 2024 including both planning and fuel reduction
projects to help reduce the wildfire threat surrounding the city with a large focus on the Irish
Hills, Miossi Ranch, and Reservoir Canyon areas. Grants through the fire safe council were
secured to fund hazardous tree removal throughout the city and grazing along San Luis Obispo
and Prefumo creeks.
Critical Facilities Locations and Reducing Structural Hazards:
CASE Program OP-7.12 identifies City facilities necessary for
community function and emergency response. Additionally, the
program tasks the City with preventing the construction of new
critical facilities from being located in specified flood zones,
wildfire zones, earthquake faults, or other special designated
zones. Where critical facilities are already located in these zones,
the program tasks to identify, and when feasible, implement,
mitigation strategies to limit the impacts of associated hazards.
In 2022, staff attempted to implement a project with the
California Joint Powers Insurance Authority to install seismic
sensors in critical facilities to help staff quickly assess potential
structural impacts after earthquakes. The project was paused due
to staff time capacity within the Public Works department due to winter storm impacts and
anticipated to be completed in early 2024. The majority of the sensors were installed in
December 2023.
Police Department
Safety Element Program 9.4 states that the City will train police
officers and other City employees to levels appropriate for their
tasks & responsibilities. In 2023, the Police Department employed
61 sworn positions and 34 non-sworn positions, for a total of 95 full-
time employees. As noted in the 2018 Capital Facilities Fee Program
Nexus Study (i.e. AB 1600 Nexus Study), the service population
totals to a combination of 72,800 workers and residents. With the
current 60 sworn officers, the current service level is a ratio of 0.82
sworn officers per 1,000 service population. At General Plan
buildout, the service population is forecasted to grow by approximately 15,500 persons, and if the
SafeHub Seismic Senor
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58
same service level ratio is applied, the City would need 13 more sworn officers by 2035. The Police
Department had 59 sworn officers back in 2002 and has not experienced significant sustained growth
in personnel in the past 20 years, while conversely the City has continued to grow in area and
population.
Staff Training: The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), which
mandates minimum content and hours for basic and in-service training, also regulates the training of
police officers and communication technicians. The Police Department maintained compliance with
POST requirements for in-service training hours for required employees. This was accomplished in
2023 by sending employees to POST-certified training courses in various topics, with the associated
costs reimbursed by POST, and by providing in-house training for employees. Police Department
employees have utilized a combination of on-line, in-person and SLOPD hosted training to ensure all
employees maintain their training hours.
In 2023 the Department continued their commitment to having 100 percent of staff trained in Crisis
Intervention Training (CIT). As new employees are hired, they are sent to CIT training as soon as
possible to maintain the City’s commitment to having a fully trained CIT staff. The primary goal of
CIT is to reduce injuries to officers and mental health consumers during contacts, and to appropriately
redirect mental health consumers from the judicial system to the services and support needed to
stabilize consumers and reduce contact with police. CIT training can be between 8 and 40 hours
depending on the course. The San Luis Obispo Police Department is committed to ensure that all
staff receive the 40-hour training course as soon as possible.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) also conducts in-house training using employees who
are certified instructors in a variety of police-related job functions, including defensive tactics, mobile
field force, active shooter, and use of firearms. In addition to the standard police training, the
department successfully completed its second year with a robust Peer Support Team to help officers
after tragic or traumatic events. The Peer Support Team has been trained to deal with a wide variety
of potential problems and can give direct counseling or direct those in need to the proper resources.
They have implemented a monthly employee wellness newsletter providing outreach and
information on a regular basis to staff. Peer Support has provided its expertise to surrounding Law
Enforcement agencies over the past year in response to critical incidents in those jurisdictions. In
2023, the Police Department is completed its draft of a new 5-year strategic plan to guide
department-wide efforts for the future, with an expected adoption in January 2024.
Mutual and Automatic Aid – Police: Section 9.10 of the Safety Element indicates that the City will
work with other jurisdictions to obtain and follow adequate mutual-aid and automatic-aid
agreements. In 2023 there were no requests for mutual-aid to the San Luis Obispo Police Department
for natural disasters. The Police Department provides Officers to assist surrounding Law Enforcement
agencies with various special events including parades, protests, special events and large-scale
investigations. Typically, our Officers assist many local Police Departments including Santa Maria,
Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Atascadero, California Highway Patrol, and the Sheriff’s
Department. In return, many of these agencies assist the San Luis Obispo Police Department in
several of our large-scale events including the Women’s March and the Holiday Parade. With COVID-
19 restrictions lifted, special events throughout the City have returned to normal levels.
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The City has participated in a regional Special Weapons and Tactics Team (Regional SWAT) since 2008.
The Regional SWAT team allows participating cities to leverage limited resources and maximize
coordination and special expertise during critical incidents. The SWAT team responds to incidents
throughout the County and conducts twice monthly training exercises along with scenario-based
training days in conjunction with the City’s Crisis Negotiation Team.
Community Action Team (CAT): CAT Officers continue to identify problems and crime trends that
negatively impact the quality of life of residents, business owners, and visitors. CAT officers work
collaboratively with a variety of individuals and groups, including patrol officers, investigators, the
Neighborhood Outreach Manager, other city departments (Fire, Ranger Service, Public Works,
Community Development), social service providers, business groups, and other governmental
agencies as appropriate. CAT Officers have focused on several individuals in our community who are
involved in adverse and repetitive criminal activities that negatively impact our community. In 2023,
the CAT team engaged with 408 individuals and made 258 treatment referrals to mental health and
substance abuse services. They have been successful in working with others to find alternatives to
incarceration that include service placement and transitional housing. In 2023, CAT facilitated 3
permanent housing placements and 6 family or agency reunifications for individuals experiencing
homelessness and/or mental health crises.
The program has continued to grow and the relationships in the court system have proven very
valuable. In 2023, the CAT team provided 4 Behavioral Health Trainings with approximately 100
people attending. This past year, Transitions Mental Health Association (TMHA) has had difficulty
finding qualified candidates to work on the CAT team. This is the department’s fourth year working
with TMHA to fill this specialist position on the CAT team. This partnership has brought the mental
health services with the community to a higher level and is extremely successful when filled. The
department plans to add another CAT officer when Transitions Mental Health Association is
successful in hiring an additional social worker. It is the department’s goal to have the new personnel
in place as soon as possible.
Community Service Officers: The growth and rebranding of the Community Services Officer
(CSO) program formerly known as Field Service Technician (FST), was a strategic expansion aimed
to triple the program's capacity and enhance our commitment to the downtown core's well -being
along with the rest of the city. With this, the CSO program has played a pivotal role in delivering
personalized services to our business community, residents, and visitors.
The primary objective of CSOs is to address quality-of-life issues efficiently. These non-sworn
officers promptly respond to non-criminal and criminal infractions, including but not limited to
drinking, smoking, noise disturbances, blocking the right of way, and minor disturbances of the
peace.
This year, the CSO program has demonstrated a significant impact and success in addressing
crime and quality-of-life issues. CSOs have effectively responded to infractions, and
misdemeanors contributing to a safer and more harmonious downtown environment. Their
presence has been felt through their rapid resolution of incidents.
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Community Service Officers have actively engaged in building effective partnerships with various
community stakeholders. This collaborative approach not only fostered a sense of community
but also enabled sworn Police Officers to concentrate on more seriou s calls for service. The CSO
team is a visible presence in the community, utilizing a range of patrol tactics, including bikes,
vehicles, and predominantly, foot patrols. The CSOs have proven to be a force multiplier for the
Police Department and the strategic allocation of these resources has improved overall service
delivery to the community, offering assistance in a shorter timeframe.
The success witnessed over the past year in the expanded CSO program represents a significant
step towards creating a safer, more vibrant downtown community. This initiative has
strengthened the bond between law enforcement and the community, fostering a c ollaborative
and secure environment for everyone.
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Neighborhood Wellness
Land Use Element Program 2.14 states the City will help identify neighborhood problems, and
undertake a wide range of focused development review, capital improvement, and code
enforcement efforts to help residents preserve and enhance their neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Officer Program – Police Department
In 2013, the Police Department launched a Neighborhood Officer Program that divides the City
into 13 distinct “neighborhoods,” each with dedicated patrol officers assigned to address City
neighborhood issues. The Neighborhood Officers act as liaisons between the Police Department,
the community, and a variety of city agencies. Neighborhood officers have continued to be a
consistent “go to” for residents needing assistance with a variety of quality-of-life concerns.
Residents can contact their neighborhood officer directly from the City website.
Code Enforcement – Community Development Department
The City’s Code Enforcement Office reports directly to the Community Development
Department’s Chief Building Official and is responsible for prioritizing, responding to,
investigating, and enforcing the validity of all reported violations relating to several regulations.
It is the goal of code enforcement to gain compliance utilizing the lowest level of enforcement
mechanisms and techniques possible. Staff is responsible for ensuring compliance with state and
local laws relating to:
• Building and Zoning Requirements
• Property Maintenance
• Graffiti
• Abandoned Shopping Carts
• Conditional Approvals and Permits
• Setbacks, Fence Height
• Polystyrene/ Straws/Water bottle
• Signs
• Land Use
• Health & Safety Concerns
• Unpermitted Construction
• Improper Occupancy
• Substandard Buildings
• Dangerous or Unsecured Buildings
• Animal & Waste
• Noise & Odor
In 2023, Code Enforcement staff responded to 978 requests for investigation, a 55% increase
over the previous calendar year. In total, 73 Neighborhood Preservation cases and 155 additional
Code Enforcement cases were opened, resulting in a total of 228 Code Enforcement Cases as
shown below in Table 15.
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Table 15 - Code Enforcement Statistics, 2017-2023
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Requests for Investigation 566 612 528 450 460 628 978
COVID-19 Related Calls - - - 723 109 - -
Code Enforcement & Safe Housing Cases Opened 221 240 273 143 153 223 155
Neighborhood Preservation Cases opened 732 574 658 556 518 365 73
Source: Community Development Department, 2023
In 2023, the development of the Safe Housing Outreach and Education program was placed on
hold due to staffing shortages. With the successful recruitment of a Code Enforcement Technician
II in December of 2023, focus can be redirected on program development and implementation
related to education and outreach. The goal of the Safe Housing Outreach and Education Program
is to provide proactive education and outreach to stakeholders such as tenants, property owners
and property managers to empower tenants to recognize, and work with property owners and/or
code enforcement staff, to abate substandard conditions. This involves using communication
methods other than violation notices and/or citations, such as extended timelines, providing
educational material, offering more accessible paths to obtain corrective building permits and
other methods to promote a cooperative approach with property owners to gain compliance.
Neighborhood Outreach – Police Department
Police Department SNAP employees (Student Neighborhood Assistance Program) continue to
conduct parking enforcement and respond to noise complaints in neighborhoods during evening
hours. In 2023, SNAP responded to 648 noise complaints in the neighborhoods and issued 376
Disturbance Advisement Cards (DACs). DACs are a formal warning that does not have financial
penalty, but it does place the property on the noise “no warning” list. SNAP continues to conduct
parking enforcement in the residential districts and in 2023 issued 2299 citations (no permit, fire
lanes, blocking hydrants, parking in disabled spaces without placard, etc.).
In response to the need for non-adversarial processes that address community conflicts, the City
of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly, Cuesta College, and Creative Mediation, a local non-profit, developed
the SLO Solutions Program in 2004 to offer free conflict resolution and mediation to City
residents. SLO Solutions served 958 residents in 2023, an 18% increase from 2022. In addition to
the number of residents served, Creative Mediation increased marketing and outreach to
residents and students by distributing and posting 475 flyers in locations across SLO City, Cal Poly,
and Cuesta, including campus spaces, businesses, and off-campus housing complexes. SLO
Solutions information was also distributed in move-in packets for new residents of The SLO and
Mustang Village, a practice that will continue with each new resident moving forward. To support
these outreach and marketing efforts, Creative Mediation hosted two Cal Poly interns as SLO
Solutions Ambassadors who continued to explore new ways for students and residen ts to engage
in services.
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Figure 4 - Monthly Noise Party Calls for Service, 2023
812 residents in 2022 which is an 18% increase from the previous year. In 2021, Creative
Mediation’s staff was reduced from two staff members. Two new staff were hired in December
2021. Significant time and resources were directed toward training and developing new staff
members who lacked experience with community mediation. While fewer community-wide SLO
Solutions trainings and workshops were offered, Creative Mediation made gains in the number
of conflict resolution services provided following the introduction of formal Conflict Coaching
sessions as an option for residents for whom mediation is not an option. Additionally, they hosted
three Cal Poly interns as SLO Solutions Ambassadors on campus to explore new inroads for
services to students.
Noise abatement in the neighborhoods continues to be a priority in the maintenance of civility
and wellness in the community. Figure 4 below provides a monthly overview of noise complaints,
throughout the year. Voluntary party registration continues to be an excellent tool for residents
who choose to have social gatherings at their homes. Party registration provides residents the
opportunity to register their event with SLOPD and if a noise complaint is received, police
dispatch will call the host and give a 20 minute20-minute warning for the party to quiet down. In
20232, 480 party registration applications were received, 339 applications approved, 49 warning
calls were made, and 5 citations issued to party hosts that did not heed their warning call.
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Conservation & Open Space
Conservation and Open Space Protection was identified as a Major City Goal (Climate Action, Open
Space, and Sustainable Transportation) as part of the Fiscal Year 2023-2025 Financial Plan. The
General Plan contains many goals, policies and programs focused on open space protection. The
policies apply to sensitive lands within the City’s urban reserve as well as land in the San Luis Obispo
Greenbelt area that is protected for its biological, agricultural, aesthetic and/or watershed protection
value. These policies are further detailed in the Land Use and Circulation Element and the
Conservation and Open Space Element. Department highlights for 2023 include:
1. The City continues to implement measures identified in the Miossi Open Space Conservation for
this 266-acre property that was purchased in 2018. The acquisition protected six different special
status wildlife species and six different special status botanical species, while also serving as
critical area of the upper San Luis Obispo Creek watershed and as a key wildlife migration
corridor along Cuesta Ridge. City Council approved the conservation plan for the property in
2019, and Natural Resources and Ranger Service staff have been implementing the necessary
steps to steward the property for natural resources protection and for compatible passive
recreational uses. The core network of the Miossi Open Space trail system was completed in
Spring 2022, including a trail agreement with Cal Poly in November 2021 that allowed the City
to create a trail connection from Miossi Open Space to Poly Canyon Road, thereby greatly
improving overall trail connectivity in the area, as well as providing opportunities for student
research. Invasive species control efforts were implemented in 2023, as well as erosion and
storm damage repairs. Additional trails identified in the conservation plan are anticipated in
2024 as part of the Major City Goal work program.
2. The City received a dedication of Righetti Hill within the Orcutt Area Specific Plan and Natural
Resources, along with the Ranger Service staff to establish a new open space and trail system.
The Righetti Hill Open Space Conservation Plan was adopted by Council in 2023 and phase one
of the trail system and trailhead work was also anticipated to be completed in early 2023.
3. The City continued to support and partner with City Farm SLO to deliver sustainable agriculture
education for students and the community, while producing healthy local food. In early 2022, a
40-year lease extension was granted to City Farm SLO reflecting the successful long-term
partnership and City Farm SLO’s plans for significant capital improvements at the property. City
Farm SLO was awarded a $200,000 grant from the California Farmland Conservancy Program for
site access improvements and enhancements along Prefumo Creek; the City will further
augment this effort with in-kind services and additional funding as part of the Major City Goal
work program.
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4. The City continued invasive species vegetation control along Froom, Prefumo, and San Luis
Obispo Creeks, along with planting native plants and trees to restore habitat. Restoration
plantings included the installation of butterfly gardens in City and neighborhood parks in support
of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge; a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation.
5. The Office of Sustainability and Natural
Resources program staff worked with the
Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District
(CSL-RCD) to conduct a Carbon Farm Plan for
Johnson Ranch and City Farm SLO. The plan
recommended a series of management
practices to increase carbon sequestration in
the vegetation and soils of these two City-
owned open space properties. At Johnson
Ranch, the pilot project included spreading a
thin layer of compost on 1.2 acres of grassland.
The City and CSL-RCD worked with Cal Poly professors and students on the compost application
pilot. Through this institutional partnership the City established the experimental design,
conducted baseline testing, analyzed various compost sources, and defined a protocol for
ongoing monitoring. Expected benefits include carbon sequestration, increased water retention,
and improved forage quality. At City Farm SLO, the City planted a pollinator habitat hedgerow
alongside the riparian corridor of Prefumo Creek. Expected benefits include carbon
sequestration, wind protection, and improved pollinator habitat. Staff continue to monitor and
measure these efforts, and also anticipate additional funding through the California Wildlife
Conservation Board and Point Blue Conservation Science to implement additional measures in
2024.
6. Staff continue to engage with different professors and classes from Cal Poly to further educate
with the “Learn by Doing” mantra in open space monitoring and restoration projects. This is a
wonderful opportunity for collaboration and capacity building.
7. Staff continued to support the Utilities Department to implement the Stormwater Management
Program as required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). The Plan focuses
on improving stormwater quality through Best Management Practices (BMPs), including
construction site monitoring, municipal operations, development review, litter control, and
public participation to reduce pollution run-off.
8. Staff continued steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus
tridentatus) surveys along San Luis Obispo and Stenner Creeks with biologists from California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Staff also began cataloging
where new oak trees can be planted to expand the current oak forest in several City open space
properties. These surveys were completed in collaboration with the California Conservation
Corps and will support the City’s “10 Tall” goal of planting 10,000 trees by 2035.
9. City staff partnered with the California Conservation Corps (CCC) through the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund (GGRF) program to help implement the Wildland-Urban Interface and
Integrated Vegetation Management Plan for Open Space Lands of San Luis Obispo. Through this
partnership, CCC members worked in the Irish Hills, Cerro San Luis, Prefumo Creek, Bowden
Johnson Ranch Open Space
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Ranch and Islay Creek to reduce and remove dead and down material and ladder fuels to prevent
the start and spread of wildfire. Staff are continuing to work with the FireSafe Council to further
identify projects to increase the community’s protection along the WUI.
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Parks & Recreation
The Parks and Recreation Department continued to revise and expand programming to support
of objectives associated to the Parks and Recreation Blueprint for the Future (Element and
General Plan), Major City Goals and Local Revenue Measure G. Throughout 2023, the Parks and
Recreation Department offered new and expanded programs and activities in areas of senior
programming, youth activities, and family-friendly community events in order to best serve the
community. Along with the growth of program offerings, it is important to note that Parks and
Recreation continued to face an ongoing shortage of supplemental and frontline staff, at times
impacting program hours, specifically with Youth Services and Aquatics. The following sections
highlight the different divisions and programs supporting the Major City Goals and the Parks &
Recreation Blueprint for the Future (Element and General Plan).
Community Programming
Youth Sports: The City provides recreational youth sports opportunities for children of all abilities
and experience levels. The City’s recreational programming focuses on building confidence,
teamwork, integrity, and leadership skills. The City continues to work collaboratively with local
youth sports groups and San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD) to meet the needs of
the community. The Youth Sports and Activity Clinics have continued to expand to provide a
wider variety of sports and fitness activities in 2023. Clinics included: pickleball, soccer,
basketball, and volleyball, serving over 180 youth athletes. Staff also provided two and a half
weeks of full day sports camps during the summer, with over 100 youth participants.
The Sports Division continued the long-standing San Francisco
Junior Giants summer program (baseball and softball) with over
230 children and over 30 volunteer coaches participated in this
free, non-competitive, 8-week program focused on skills and
drills, training, and game play. The program incorporated sport
skills as well as focused lessons to build resiliency, including:
education, teamwork, confidence, leadership, and integrity.
Parks and Recreation Department continued their partnership
with the San Luis Obispo County YMCA for the winter youth
basketball league with over 650 children enrolled to form the
65-team program. The spring Futsal program was the second of
these partnership leagues with over 250 children participating.
Adult Sports: Adult recreational sports continue to provide the community with a variety of
activities for both adult and senior populations. These sports include drop-in Boomer Softball,
ultimate “Frisbee”, table tennis, volleyball, dodgeball, and basketball. Programmed activities
include adult soccer through partnerships with Central Coast Soccer and the SLO Pickleball Club
for affordable pickleball lessons.
Parks and Rec Youth Sports Clinic
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Parks and Recreation staff manage the popular year-round
softball leagues which annually encompass three seasons
averaging 160 teams in 2023 with over 2400 rostered players.
Senior sports activities (55+) include Pickleball programs and
Boomer Softball. Pickleball continues to exhibit high
popularity with the total number of participants playing on a
regular 7-days a week basis steadily increasing.
Community Building Programs: The Department continued to revise and expand activities for
the community to connect and enjoy all that San Luis Obispo has to offer. The chart below shows
the commitment from Parks and Recreation staff to provide enhanced programming year-round
to local community members.
Softball league Champions
*Blue = current event; *Gold = new event with reallocated resources
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Throughout 2023, Staff coordinated popular community
events such as the Leprechaun Lost event at Farmer’s
Market in March, the Spring Fling and Egg Hunt at
Meadow Park, the Jack House Spring Concert series, and
summer “Monday Meet-Up” days (including music, food
trucks, games. The extremely popular fall events were the
September Scramble with over 600 participants, as well
as the October Boo Bash with a movie and haunted house
that experienced record attendance over nearly 800
community members.
Contract Classes: The City’s external instructor partners
provide a range of classes for youth and adults. Parks and Recreation staff coordinated 285
classes with 960 registered participants for courses related to art, dance, fitness, financial
planning, and even surfing.
Community Gardens: The five Community Gardens in the City continued to thrive with the
support of staff’s hard work and maintenance. Staff coordinated three volunteer workdays, as
well as free composting days available to gardeners through the City’s Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI)
program. During this time, the Broad Street gardens (which had been provided for the past year
at no cost to the users) was decommissioned in order for the North Broad Street Park project to
begin in fall 2022. Past gardeners will have first priority in plot placements when the park opens.
SLO Skate Park: The Skate Park remained an
extremely popular location for the community to
actively utilize from beginners to experts at both
the skate park and roller rink. As roller sports have
become increasingly more popular, City staff
played a role in supporting all user groups to enjoy
the park with education and assistance for user
groups with facility reservation times. Throughout
Spring 2023, the City participated in the popular
SLO County Monster Skate Program which rotates throughout the County and finalizes with the
end of season event at the SLO Skate Park in May.
SLO Senior Center:
This was the first full-year of Department support to the Senior Executive Board with a 20-hour
per week full-time Coordinator. With the commitment of additional staff support, the City
contributed towards trips coordinated by the Senior Center Board, including a trip to the Solvang.
In 2023, staff coordinated new programs for Seniors including a walking group , hiking group,
“Around the Town” staff led tours, a summer ‘Olympic activity’ and BBQ, a “Pet Week” with
community partners, weekly family trivia nights in the summer, and finally a Winter 1950’s
SLO Skate Park
Leprechaun Lost at Farmer’s Market
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themed sock hop dance... The Senior Center Board continues to organize book clubs, bridge,
brain aerobics, and other programs geared at engaging the Senior community in San Luis Obispo.
Jack House and Gardens: At the end of 2022, the Jack House Committee was incorporated into
the responsibility and oversight to the Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC). With both PRC
and City Council support, this decision has provided more support for the Jack House docent
program (comprised of volunteers). In addition, the City’s newly hired Volunteer Coordinator, in
coordination with the Community Services division, contributed to growth and development of
Jack House Docent programming, events, and recruitment strategies enabling more activities to
take place in 2023 and greater volunteer support. Jack House Docents conducted public tours
one to two Sundays per month from May to December and held frequent special events like
musical concerts and crafts for kids in the garden. Docent volunteers decorated the Jack House
for the holidays and welcomed involvement from the SLO History Museum and a life -size model
train on display for guests to operate from the Railroad Museum in the freshly cleared out
Carriage House. Over 150 community members of all ages visited the Jack Hous e over the
holidays – a record and best year yet, according to a Docent volunteer who’s been involved with
the Jack House for over 45 years.
Youth Services
School Year Childcare: Childcare was offered before and after school to children enrolled in
grades TK through 6th grade at their home school sites (except for Teach Elementary which is
bussed to the nearby Pacheco Elementary school site). Families were able to register for drop-in
care (paying only for the time that their child attends) which benefits more families as they only
pay the cost of the care used (as opposed to a flat program rate
that is a “use it or lose it”) which allows more children to be
enrolled in the program due to fluctuating schedules. Programs
continue to be offered in the traditional time frames: before
school, middle of the day for TK and Kindergarteners, and after
school. Due to continued nationwide staffing shortages and limited
facility space, programs continue to manage waitlists throughout
the schoolyear.
For the 2022-23 school year, San Luis Coastal Unified School District
(SLCUSD) requested a new partnership from the City. Instead of the
City providing childcare during the traditional TK/Kinder program
hours (8:30 am to the start of their school day or release of their
school day until 2:50 pm), the District used funds to pay for
childcare coverage for all TK/Kinder students during this time. The District also extended the
school day for Kindergarteners. This request has resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the District to pay directly for the costs of children
attending during these program times.
Day Camp Field Trip
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Summer and School Break Care: In 2023, Summer camp programming shifted again due to the
school district’s change in summer programming. The City provided two camp options: its
traditional summer camp program, (Ultimate Day Camp, UDC) and a summer school option in
partnership with SLCUSD (Summer Fun Day Camp, SFDC). UDC included seven weeks of full-day
camp for about 75 children including field trips, swim trips, and special events on-site. Staff
coordinated field trips to locations throughout the City and County, including Mustang
Waterslides, Mustang Lanes, Avila Beach, Morro Bay, Meadow Park, SLO Swim Center and
Sinsheimer Park. Since the pandemic began, City transit and local buses have not been available
for summer camp. The program was required to pay more for an outside charter bus to allow
children to participate in the traditional field trip offering, including twice a week trips to the SLO
Swim Center. Numbers for this package-price program decreased in 2023 and numbers in the
District’s free summer school program increased. For SFDC, numbers increased as the City
partnered with SLCUSD to provide before and after summer school care at two school sites. While
this program was free for the children, the District paid the City directly for the services using
ELOP funds, with closed to 250 children participating at two sites.
Other programs during the school year included: two Teacher Workday Camps, a week-long
Spring Break Camp for school-aged youth, increased care hours during the district’s early release
days, as well as numerous onsite special events. The Division also held its second annual “Family
Fest” in the winter where families made gingerbread houses and could participate in a silent
auction for items donated by local businesses, with all proceeds going to Youth Scholarships.
Subsidized Childcare: The City continues to work with Community Action Partnership (CAPSLO)
and Childcare Resource Connection to provide subsidized care for children. This means that
children who are qualified through CAPSLO are allowed to attend childcare without paying and
the City applies to CAPSLO for reimbursement (unlike all other attendees who are required to
pay prior to attendance). In 2023, 62 children were subsidized through CAPSLO. The Youth
Services division also manages a registration scholarship program. Finances are provided from
the Director’s annual $7,500 allotment, along with grant mon ey that City staff has applied for
and received. In 2023, 15 children received a total of $4,050 in scholarship funding. Due to the
administrative time that these subsidy programs require, the City employs staff who oversees
this process along with other job requirements.
Childcare Staff: All Youth Services programs are made possible with the work of up to 70
supplemental staff, ranging from entry level Childcare Aidesides to Childcare Head Teachers and
full time Site Directors. Staff turnover since Fall 2022 has resulted in 43 part-time staff hired
during the year and 40 staff separations. Each time a supplemental staff is onboarded, the Youth
Services Administrative team and Parks and Recreation administrative staff spend a total of 60
hours per employee in onboarding and training.
Staff are provided ongoing instruction to ensure programs are consistent with Department and
State Licensing standards. Topics include Positive Guidance, Safety and Accountability, Mandated
Child Abuse Reporting, and Pediatric CPR/First Aid. In addition to supplemental staff, each school
site is supervised by a Site Director who is responsible for up to 150 children throughout the day,
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ensuring state licensing compliance and staff oversight. Due to current staff shortages, all Site
Directors, along with full-time positions such as Program Assistant, Recreation Coordinator, and
Recreation Supervisor are providing direct care to the children.
Volunteers & Training
With a new City-wide Volunteer Coordinator
hired in January of 2023, the Department worked
on building back a community volunteer base that
was lost during the pandemic, setting eyes on
building a strong programmatic foundation and
system infrastructure. Volunteers support the
advancement of City projects and Major City
Goals, working alongside staff on a regular basis or
for single-day events. Community members and
affiliate partners volunteered for Ranger Service workdays, community garden service days,
creek and park cleanups, and at Parks and Recreation annual family-fun events like September
Scramble, Leprechaun Lost and Boo Bash. Partnerships between the City and Cal Poly, Cuesta,
local non-profits, and faith-based organizations continued to strengthen with broader volunteer
engagement. To support volunteer activity, the Department launched the first-ever volunteer
portal Engage SLO attached to the City’s main website that enables the public to view and
respond to volunteer opportunities and log hours – as an individual or a group. On the backed,
staff are provided the opportunity to learn a new content management system, run easy and
accurate volunteer reports, and market and manage volunteer opportunities with the City. The
system has increased staff’s ability to recruit, retain, and sustain a skilled and known volunteer
base to deploy for future needs. In 2023, 107 new volunteers enrolled into the system, for a total
of 130 volunteers. Hours began to be tracked in July of 2023 with the new system and in the six-
month period, almost 2,000 hours of service were tracked.
Parks and Recreation staff continue to promote a culture that values staff development and
progress. Staff are encouraged to participate in training opportunities both in the area and out -
of-area.
Volunteers at the Emerson Park Garden Work Day
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Open Space Maintenance
Ranger Service had an exciting 2023 with
creating new trails and continued to
provide educational and recreational
opportunities to the community of San Luis
Obispo. The City's 4,050 acres of
designated open space and 66+ miles of
trails is designed to provide access for a
variety of abilities and experiences
including rugged hiking trails, challenging
mountain biking, and scenic pathways
within minutes of community residences
and businesses.
The City’s Ranger Service staffing model continued to evolve with the approval for a pilot skill-
based pay format for the FTE positions. Ranger Service led monthly educational hikes through
different City open spaces, held 55 workdays, and promoted Wilderness Wednesdays via social
media to engage and educate our community, as well as conducted three Junior Ranger Camps
this year. In 2023, a total of 1,250 hours were devoted to public education focusing on
conservation and local history of the flora and fauna specific to each open space properties.
Dedicated community volunteers worked hand in hand with Ranger staff in trail maintenance
projects at Bishop Peak, Irish Hills within the City’s open space trail network.
The popular Winter Evening Access (WEA) Program at Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve which
allows for extended evening hours of use for passive recreational purposes along approximately
4.9 miles of City managed trails during the winter months (November – March) when daylight
savings time is not in effect. During these time periods, public use is extended to one hour before
sunrise and until 8:30 PM. During daylight savings time, the hours of use for the public return to
one hour before sunrise through one hour after sunset. Nighttime use is by permit only and
limited to 65 people per evening based on prior conservation review. The free permits for biking
and hiking are allowed up to 1-week before and available through the City website. Ranger staff
are present at the trailhead, checking permits and educating the public during the Winter Evening
Access program.
North Broad Street Neighborhood Park
The long-awaited park project was approved for construction financing in the fall of 2023 and
broke ground in December 2023. As the original location served as a community garden, the
new park project incorporates a portion of the park to remain to be used as a community garden.
The project will include 18 garden plots (6 that are ADA accessible), playground that includes a
rope net climber, seating tables, walking paths with lighting, shade structure, and grass areas.
The project is anticipated to be completed in late spring 2024.
Parks & Recreation Department Ranger Service
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Orcutt Area Parks (Righetti Park System)
In July 2021, City Council approved the development of a multi-park system as part of the Orcutt
Area Specific Plan, specifically within the Righetti Ranch Neighborhood. The design process
continued throughout 2023 for the
comprehensive three-park system with an in-
person community workshop held in April
accompanied with a community wide on-line
survey. The Parks and Recreation Commission
approved the final concept plans in summer,
along with Staff working directly with RRM
Design on the construction documents. It is
anticipated that the final construction
documents will be completed in late spring
2024. The proposed parks in this area include a
comprehensive community park, a linear park, a
pocket park, as well as a formal trail junction.
The recreation amenities of the parks are in
support of the Parks and Recreation Blueprint
for the Future (General Plan and Element),
including pickleball and tennis courts, basketball
courts, multi-age playground, restrooms,
athletic turf fields, a dog park, bike park, and
community gardens.
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SLO Swim Center
In 2023, the popular SLO Swim Center continued to provide a
range of community focused aquatic opportunities including lap
swimming, recreational swimming, group and private swim
lessons for all ages, aquatic fitness classes, SCUBA, and a variety
of programs specifically for the warm water pool. In Summer
2023, the Swim Center offered extended recreational swim
times, as well as the popular Super Rec Saturdays in July and
August. The Super Rec Saturdays featured the inflatable obstacle
course, family focused themed activities with attendance for
each Super Rec Saturday averaging between 500 and 800
persons. Additionally, this summer staff partnered with the SLO
Seahawks to operate a snack bar during each event. . While the
Swim Center continues to experience a lifeguard staffing
shortage based on a nation-wide lifeguard shortage,
management were able to hire and train just enough staff to
minimize program and facility reductions with only a couple
weeks in October being impacted by reduced program hours. Recruitment and retention efforts
were expanded to traditional hours of operation for Spr ing and Summer. The SLO Swim Center
currently serves as the lifeguard training hub for the county of San Luis Obispo as the Aquatic
Coordinator is the regional Instructor Trainer for the Red Cross courses. This is a prestigious
luxury for a City staff member to have this level of certification and allows the SLO Swim Center
to be a focal point for water safety within our region. .
Super Rec Saturdays
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Laguna Lake Golf Course
The Laguna Lake Golf Course (LLGC) provides
affordable annual programs and services on a seven
days per week schedule. The general maintenance and
operations of the golf course continued to be severely
impacted from aging irrigation requiring additional
maintenance resources and facility impacts, as well as
increased water costs. The Pro Shop facility remained
closed due to major flooding from a significant winter
storm in December 2021. Golf Operations continues to
take place in a temporary on-site trailer to support golf
reservations, rentals, and merchandise sales. During
2023, the Pro Shop facility was mitigated for mold and
staff are in the process of creating an RFP for an
architectural contracting service for internal design
with a forecast for the project to be complete in 2025.
The winter 2023 storms impacted the golf course with
a total of 53 closure dates during January and March. The storms created a significant safety
hazard for the pedestrian wooden bridge due to the creek embankments being compromised.
The bridge connects holes 1 and 2. Staff were able to modify the course to provide alternate
access to resume play for golfers. Staff continue to implement community programming at the
golf course, including driving range and pitching area upgrades, golf lessons, middle school
classes, Cal Poly kinesiology classes, free youth golf clinics, as well as hosting special events such
as September Scramble and a cross country youth competition.
Public Art Program
The City Public Art Program plays a key role within our
community and supports the Major City Goals of
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Economic
Development. In 2023, the Public Art program
continued to thrive through collaborations with local
community groups such as the San Luis Obispo
Museum of Art, SLO Arts Council, and local artists. An
updated community partnership agreement was
established for an additional two-year contract with
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) for art
installations throughout Downtown and for major CIP
projects such as the new roadway roundabouts.
Laguna Lake Golf Course Concessionaire
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In April of 2023, SLOMA staff worked with City staff for the year-long installation of Adam Parker
Smith’s “David” in the Mission Plaza lawn area. This sculpture features a rendition of Gian
Lorenzo Bernini’s 17th century sculpture of David.
With continued commercial and residential development, City staff support ed developers with
public art installations as required by the Public Art Master Plan, managing art juries and giving
feedback to the Community Development Director. City Staff also worked with local contractors
and artists to repair the “Ironroad Pioneers” sculpture
located in the Railroad district. In addition to
maintenance and installation, staff updated the online
inventory and created a web application to map and
story-tell about City-owned artwork resulting in an “art
walk” program.
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Conclusion
The City’s General Plan guides the use and protection of the City’s various resources to meet
community purposes. The General Plan reflects consensus and compromise among a wide
diversity of citizens’ preferences within a framework set by state law. The General Plan is
published in separately adopted elements, each containing its own policies and programs. The
2023 General Plan Annual Report summarizes progress made in 2023 for major programs
specified in the elements of the General Plan.
One outcome of an annual report is the evaluation of whether actions that have occurred indicate
a change in the general vision of the community that requires a more comprehensive update of
the General Plan. Substantial progress was made by the City in 2023 related to implementation
efforts of key General Plan elements. These efforts were taken in pursuit of the City Council’s
Major City Goals for FY 2023-2025 as described on page 3. City staff will continue to implement
goals and objectives related to; Economic Recovery, Resiliency and Fiscal Sustainability; Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion; Housing and Homelessness; and Climate Action, Open Space, and
Sustainable Transportation. Progress on implementation of these goals and objectives will be
further reported on in the 2024 General Plan Annual Report.