By Neil Farrell ~
County Supervisors recently approved a contract to begin an environmental impact report for a new general plan for Los Osos.
The County chose John F. Richenbach Consulting of Atascadero, out of two bidders for the EIR contract. The total project amount was listed at $346,000 but under the contract, Richenbach will get $251,000 to produce a draft and then final EIR.
The County has a 10-percent contingency fund and various extra duties like holding four public meetings ($7,200); developing findings ($5,400); $3,160 for mitigation monitoring program; and $38,500 for “optional elements” could be added to the contract, for a total of $314,700 potentially.
Richenbach should be familiar to Bay News readers as the firm that was hired to help the City of Morro Bay pick a new site for its proposed new sewer treatment plant.
The County has been trying to update a general plan in Los Osos since the early 1990s. Originally called the Estero Area Plan, that document covered Cayucos, Los Osos and the rural areas of Morro Bay.
When that proved too much of a task — mainly due to the uncertainty of the Los Osos sewer situation — the County split Los Osos out and has since updated a plan for the Cayucos area (still known as the Estero Area Plan).
Until the sewer issue was settled in Los Osos there was little incentive to hurry up with the Los Osos portion of the plan. But now that the end is in sight — with the treatment plant due for completion, with expected start-up next March — the long quagmire of a moratorium could some day be lifted.
Among the impacts the EIR is likely to hit head-on is the town’s water supply, which is threatened with seawater intrusion.
Another major issue is likely to be the potential destruction of habitat for various plants and animals that are protected, such as the Morro kangaroo rat and banded dune snail, among others.
A “habitat conservation plan” is in progress in this regard as well. That document would identify mitigation measures — in cash or restoration efforts — that would be taken in order to develop vacant property, as pretty much the entirety of Los Osos is considered critical habitat for one species or another. This also means a lot of different agencies will have a hand in writing the EIR.
“The Los Osos Community Plan update project, as a whole,” reads a County staff report, “has involved coordination and consultation with a wide range of state and local agencies, including, but not limited to: the Los Osos Community Advisory Council, the Los Osos Community Services District, and the California Coastal Commission.
No date for completion of a final EIR was given but with the extensive list of duties, it could easily be a year or more before the public sees anything. LOCAC, which was formed in 1992 specifically to work on the old Estero Area Plan update, should have a role in the EIR work.
LOCAC is the community’s sounding board and advises County Supervisors, the County Planning Commission and staff on land use, planning, parks, transportation and other matters.
