Central Coast levies building restrictions

The California drought has left many cities in California wondering where their water supply in the future will come from. For months, Pismo Beach, located in San Luis Obispo County, contemplated a building moratorium.

On Tuesday, the Pismo Beach City Council decided to move forward with a three-tier building moratorium as a means of saving water during the California drought. Effective immediately, tier I has been implemented.

Tier I:

• Triggered when water supply level is at or below 1,630 acre-feet.
• All planning applications that were submitted on or before December 1, 2015 will be taken through permitting process. Applications received after December 1, 2015 will be taking through the permitting process but will not be given a permit.
• If a building is being repurposed, it must be water neutral.
• Redevelopment of an existing building must be water neutral. The only exemption is R-1 zoned lots adjacent to development R-1 zones.

Tier II:

• Triggered when water supply level is at or below 1,130 acre-feet.
• All applications that are going through the planning process will be taken through the process but will not be awarded permits.
• If a building is being reused, there has to be proof that the new operation will use 15 percent less water than current operations.
• No outdoor water use is prohibited.
• Municipal irrigation will be cut back 50 percent.

Tier III:

• Triggered when water supply level is at or below 850 acre-feet.
• All applications that are going through the planning process will be taken through the process but will not be awarded permits.
• If a building is being reused, there has to be proof that the new operation will use 30 percent less water than current operations.
• No outdoor water use is prohibited.
• No municipal irrigation.

“What we’re trying to do is prevent new tracts from going up,” Ben Fine, Director of Public Works for Pismo Beach told California Water News Daily. “We need to control water use by stopping the development of a new [housing] tract.”

According to Fine, the city isn’t opposed to property owners who want to remodel their home or build on existing property. The city doesn’t want home builders to come in and building housing tracts that could compromise the city’s water supply.