LOS OSOS DEMANDS COMMON SENSE FROM THE SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS  & THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION. THEY MUST REQUIRE A CAP ON THE NUMBER OF GUESTHOUSES AND REQUIRE TITLE 19 AND HABITAT MITIGATIONS

We the citizens of Los Osos demand that the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission apply common sense to the Los Osos Community Plan, Habitat Conservation Plan and the Los Osos Growth Management Ordinance. Currently guesthouses which are basically 2 bedroom , 1 bath homes with a wet bar are not included in the 1% growth rate. AND THERE IS NO CAP TO THE NUMBER WHICH CAN BE BUILT. In addition guesthouses are not required to do Title 19 water-saving retrofits to build. Our aquifer is still considered in Critical Overdraft by the CA Department of Water Resources and most of the Basin Management goals for water sustainability have not been met. Guesthouses must be required to do the same water-savings measures as any other 2 bedroom home. 

On Tuesday, October 29, 2024 the Board of Supervisors will vote on amendments to the Los Osos Community Plan, the Local Coastal Plan (LCP) and the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Currently the LCP states this about guesthouses: “these structures are better understood as room additions……as they are prohibited from having kitchen facilities/and or utility services”    “LCP (Local Coastal Plan) Amendment No. LCP-f3-SLO-21-0028-1-Part G (Los Osos Community Plan). As these buildings have garages and a wet bar it is plain to see how they could easily convert the wet bar and use the garage for laundry to accommodate four people . They are not to be used as permanent dwellings or rented out, yet many already are and people have been told when applying for permits that they are the same as a granny unit. They are not. 

Lastly, since many of these guesthouses are built on newly acquired land that has been adjoined to an existing home, they also must be required to pay into the Habitat Conservation Mitigation Fund as any new home on a vacant lot. Many vacant lots in Los Osos are habitat for a variety of wildlife, including endangered and threatened species.

We the undersigned demand that common sense be applied to guesthouses 

1. Guesthouses must be subject to the 1% Growth Management Ordinance and there must be a cap to the number of units that can be built.

 2. Guesthouses must be held to Title 19 “Retrofit-to-Build”requirements.

 3. Guesthouses must pay into the mitigation fund for the Habitat Conservation Plan just as any other new home.