County supervisors pile on more regulations for rural events A majority of the County Board of Supervisors (Bruce Gibson, Adam Hill, James Patterson) has decided that the difficult and expensive process of getting a minor use permit for temporary events on rural property should be even more onerous. Even though public testimony was overwhelming in favor of rural events, the Board incrementally shifted toward the misnamed Ag Tourism Coalition’s (ATC) position of increased regulation. Chairman Bruce Gibson, using the same loaded language as the ATC, referred to the farms that hosted events as "event centers" and was concerned about them becoming a "Disneyland" or "casino."  The minor use permits — which was attached to property with no expiration unless there were complaints — now will expire after a fixed number of years and require re-application to keep the permit. The Board also decided not to allow some remodeling of existing farm buildings to better handle events, even within the existing building footprint. Events on rural land have been a life saver for agriculturalists and a boon to hundreds of small businesses like caterers, photographers, rental centers, florists and entertainers. New development: "fair share" or "pay its own way"? For years, the Chamber argued against the city’s policy of demanding that new development "pay its own way" because oftentimes the developers ended up paying for problems that already existed. We pushed for a new policy of new development to "pay its fair share," a concept that has generally been accepted. The problem now is figuring out what’s "fair." Case in point: The Fire Department says it needs to replace its 75-foot ladder truck that can handle only buildings less than 50 feet tall. Cal Poly has built new high rise dorms that are more than 50 feet tall. (SLO provides fire protection to Cal Poly that Poly pays for.) SLO has a city goal for more compact, higher-rise development so developers have proposed buildings higher than 50 feet. A new 100-foot ladder truck costs almost $500,000 more than a 75-foot truck. So who should pay for that added expense? Poly’s share would be $25,000 per year, but they’re in a budget squeeze. So, that leaves — you guessed it — the developers of buildings over 50 feet. The $1.89 per foot fee that the SLO City Council approved Tuesday night will add about $40,000 to the proposed Garden Street Terraces. Fairness is never simple. Using a carrot instead of a stick In a twist on the traditional but usually ineffective boycott of businesses that engage in unethical practices, a new type of activism called "Carrotmob" is popping up in cities across the country. Businesses compete with one another to commit the greatest percentage of its revenues generated during a specific time frame to energy-efficiency improvements. The top bidder is then "mobbed" by shoppers who reward the business that made the strongest commitment. A local group of students and recent graduates are organizing the first Carrotmob in SLO at the Quick Stop Market on Broad St. The convenience/liquor store beat out several other local stores by agreeing to reinvest 40 percent of the revenues generated at the store on Oct. 24 from 3:50 to 7 p.m. into eco-upgrades. (It’s just a coincidence that students selected a store that sells liquor.)

Special Information

Leadership SLO applications are available for Class XIX!  All applications are due by Friday, October 16th.  Click here for an application. Visit www.leadershipslo.org for more information.

Citizen of the Year nomination forms now available!  Click here to nominate someone for the Chamber’s most prestigious award.