SLO County News BlogGolf, Wine, Real Estate, Business & Travel NewsChanges coming to Downtown SLOSunday, July 31, 2005At least 122 new homes and 100 hotel rooms.More office and retail space. Three- and four-story buildings where single-story structures or parking lots once stood. That's what's coming to downtown San Luis Obispo, where a whirlwind of redevelopment will dramatically remake the area's feel over the next six years. The massive reconstruction will rip stucco from historic buildings, displace many businesses and crowd out parking spaces as more projects like the recently opened Court Street project sprout around downtown. "It will be shocking to some, but it will still look like downtown," said Claire Clark, the city official coordinating the construction. Driving the flurry of activity is a deadline to meet earthquake safety standards that will require most property owners to retrofit their buildings. Many owners have used retrofitting as the opportunity to draw up new plans for their properties. There are two other things spurring change, officials say: city policies encouraging more downtown development and the rejection by voters this spring of the Dalidio Ranch Marketplace shopping center on the edge of town. Read entire article at: Look what's coming up downtown The Tribune, Leslie Griffy To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Federal Funds for SLO RoadsSaturday, July 30, 2005San Luis Obispo County's share of a massive federal transportation bill approved by Congress on Friday is more than $35 million.The money would help pay for widening a highway in the North County and a bridge in the South County, as well as help build a bike path in San Luis Obispo and extend a boardwalk in Pismo Beach. The total was included in the $286.4 billion transportation bill passed by the the House of Representatives and the Senate on Friday. It still needs to be signed by President Bush to become law. "It's phenomenal news for our county," Ron De Carli, executive director of the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments said. "We don't receive sufficient transportation money to meet the needs of our region." The bulk of the local share -- $33.4 million -- would go toward widening Highway 46 East to four lanes from the intersection of Airport Road east of Paso Robles to the rest stop near Shandon. The money is for construction, which De Carli said is set to begin in July 2007. De Carli said Thomas secured an additional $92 million to widen Highway 46 East to four lanes from the San Luis Obispo County line to Highway 5 near Lost Hills. The bill also includes $2.7 million to widen Highway 101's Santa Maria River Bridge near the border of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. This would pay for final engineering and design phases, De Carli said. Money for the actual construction has not been allocated. The bill also includes $320,000 for the construction of the Bob Jones bike path from Avila Beach to San Luis Obispo. There is also $240,000 in the bill to pay for about three-fourths of the expansion of the Pismo Beach Promenade northward along the beach, similar to the section south of the pier. Construction is scheduled to begin after Labor Day. Read entire article at: Highway 46 East could get $33 million The Tribune, Jeff Ballinger To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SLO Junior Golf OpportunitiesFriday, July 29, 2005 San Luis Obispo County golf courses are working hard to develop junior golf on the Central Coast, introducing the great game of golf to our local youth. These local courses break down the cost barrier for a youth getting started by offering inexpensive and even free beginning golf instruction programs. Avila Beach and Blacklake Golf Resorts introduce beginning youth to golf through The First Tee program - a program that provides easy access for any child to experience the game of golf, no matter what their life situation. Chalk Mountain Golf Course in Atascadero has an extensive Junior Golf Program, offering Free Golf for beginners. Local professional, Roger Tambellini, got his start at Chalk Mountain! SLO JR Golf Summer Camps include professional golf instruction and skills challenges in on course play, rules, etiquette, putting, pitching, chipping, full swing. These camps are held at the Sea Pines Golf Resort, Hunter Ranch Golf Course, Cypress Ridge Golf Course, and Dairy Creek Golf Course. For junior golfers who seek to grow in the game, there is plenty of competitive opportunity. For example, the San Luis Obispo County Junior Golf Association offers tournaments for players seeking tournament experience and thinking about playing golf in high school. GolfSLO - SLO County Golf Guide SLOCJGA - SLO County Junior Golf Assoc. Mid-State Fair Opens in Paso RoblesThursday, July 28, 2005The self-proclaimed "Biggest Little Fair ... Anywhere" begins today at the California Mid-State Fairgrounds in Paso Robles, with activities and entertainment to suit just about any taste.Celebrating 60 years at the fairgrounds, this year's fair will offer all the traditional events people have known for years, including carnival rides, animal judging and country and rock music concerts. But this year, a variety of new features will make their debut to satisfy the nearly 400,000 visitors who will likely attend the fair between today and Aug. 7. Small children will probably be interested in the special carnival ride section set up just for them next to the Headliner Stage. The area will include a merry-go-round, bumper boats and other rides suited for people their size. Another area good for children and adults alike is the educational All Creatures Great and Small Petting Zoo, which will allow visitors to touch a variety of common and rare animals and learn about each one by reading informational displays. The zoo is open from 12 to 8 p.m. daily. Street Beat, a unique drumming trio that uses buckets and pails in their percussion performance, can be seen Aug. 4 through Aug. 7 on the Stampede Stage. Another performance this year will be country music star Darryl Worley, who will perform Aug. 6 right after the Country Rodeo Finals. The combination event will allow rodeo spectators to also see the concert with one ticket. For adults, a former wine competition has been changed to add three new varietals. The Central Coast Wine Challenge now features pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and blended red wines in addition to the syrah and chardonnay. Wineries from three counties -- San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Monterey -- entered more than 250 wines that were judged in June. Winning entries will be on display in the Marketplace throughout the run of the fair. Seniors attending the fair will get a great deal every day, as the fair has dropped admission prices for those age 62 and older to just $4. That's in addition to the usual Senior Day -- Tuesday, Aug. 2 -- when anyone over the age of 55 will get in for a half-price admission of $3.50. Concertgoers with disabilities may find it easier to enjoy the show with expanded handicapped seating in the Main Grandstand Arena. And everyone will enjoy extra room as well as a new permanent stage with video screens on the sides to help all spectators better enjoy the show. Some of this year's big acts include Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Journey, Los Lonely Boys, Reba, Maroon 5, Toby Keith and Sugar Ray on the Grandstand Stage and Smash Mouth, Michael W. Smith, Buddy Guy and the Wallflowers on the free stages. To see a detailed list of activities offered each day and for ticket information on shows, visit the fair's Web site at www.midstatefair.com and click on Daily Schedule. There you can find times for everything from livestock judging to concerts to cake decorating demonstrations. Gates will open at noon daily and close at midnight. Regular admission is $7 and does not include headliner concert tickets. SLO's MAC FixIt GuideWednesday, July 27, 2005PB FixIt today announced a significant addition to their groundbreaking FixIt Guide Series, the Mac Mini FixIt Guide. The new guide is immediately available, free atwww.PBFixIt.com. The Mac Mini FixIt Guide contains detailed disassembly instructions that walk the reader through the process of easily accessing and upgrading parts. The Guides make Mini disassembly so simple, even novices can upgrade their RAM, hard drive, or DVD drive with ease. In addition to the Mac Mini, FixIt Guides are also available for all iBook G3, PowerBook G3, and PowerBook G4 models. PB FixIt also announced today that they are making all FixIt Guides available as free downloadable PDFs. "There is no reason to pay Apple's ridiculous labor fees ever again," said Kyle Wiens, PB FixIt's CEO. "The FixIt Guides have empowered thousands of people to upgrade and repair their Macs themselves. Offering free PDFs was the obvious next step. We're enabling the masses." "With a simple internet connection and a fourth grade reading level, anyone can purchase parts and repair his or her own Mac at home. We have thousands of parts to choose from, any tools you could possibly need, and we'll even show you how to do it for free. Save yourself the $100/hour in labor. Buy something nice for your husband or wife or kids instead. You do the work, we just make it easy." FixIt Guides are now available for these computers: * Mac Mini * PowerBook G3 (233 - 500 MHz) * iBook G3 (300 - 900 MHz) * PowerBook G4 Titanium (400 MHz - 1 GHz) * PowerBook G4 Aluminum (867 MHz - 1.67 GHz) About PB FixIt PB FixIt launched in 2003 and instantly became the leader in the Mac laptop part industry. PB FixIt is dedicated to bringing high quality, hard to find laptop parts to Macintosh zealots everywhere. For more information, contact PB FixIt at www.PBFixIt.com or call 1-866-61-FIXIT. Doc Burnstein's expands to SLOTuesday, July 26, 2005Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream is now being sold at two San Luis Obispo locations. The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at 848 Higuera St. and the Crushed Grape in the Madonna Shopping Plaza are selling the cold dessert made in Arroyo Grande.Owner Greg Steinberger said he is inventing a new flavor to sell at the San Luis Obispo locations. Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab is currently located in the historic Village of Arroyo Grande at 114 W. Branch St. SLO's Bubble Gum Alley RetrofitMonday, July 25, 2005 Half of San Luis Obispo's famed Bubble Gum Alley will be torn down and rebuilt if a property owner's proposal is approved.The building between the alley and Mother's Tavern is owned by John Hira, and it needs seismic retrofitting. "It costs as much to create a new building, with more space, as it does to fix what is there," said lead architect Tom Brajkovich. A three-story structure would replace the current single-story building that creates the alley where people have been leaving their chewed gum since the 1960s. "The alley is certainly a piece of history," Brajkovich said. But over the years, he added, moisture from the bubble gum seeped into the bricks, where it molded. "It has gotten pretty gross," he said. But gross is good according to some visitors, including Debii Otto of San Francisco, who put pink gum on the wall in the shape of her last name Saturday afternoon. City leaders recognize that changing the alley is a sticky subject. "It is one of those things that people really love," said Claire Clark, the city's seismic coordinator. While the developer plans to let gum chewers recreate part of history on the new building's side, Brajkovich said reviving the tradition of downtown living is even more exciting. The building includes three housing units, tentatively designed to sell as condos. "When I first moved here 36 years ago a lot of people lived downtown," Brajkovich said. "Over the years all of the places where my friends and I lived have become office space. Now, we are going back to a residential downtown." The three condos include balconies and are envisioned on the building's top floor. The second floor is slated to become offices while the first would continue to house retail. "I am excited that someone is going to be able to live downtown and work downtown, maybe even do both," Brajkovich said. Read entire article at: A Project to chew over The Tribune, Leslie Griffy To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SLO Wine - Up, not SidewaysSaturday, July 23, 2005A new Gallup poll showing Americans prefer wine presents a ripe opportunity to attract a new generation of aficionados, local industry officials say."Wine is being demystified in the United States -- it's no longer for these oenophiles," said Charlie Yates, executive director of the San Luis Obispo Vintners Association. "I think people will take that information and say, 'There's something about wine that I want to try.'" This is the first year since the Gallup Organization began asking Americans about their drinking habits that wine edged out beer as the beverage of choice. It jumped 6 percentage points over last year and gained most significantly among men in the 30-to-49 age group and those who identified themselves as nonwhite. "This is stuff we've seen coming for a while," said David Sloane, president of trade association WineAmerica, which represents wineries across the country. "This is not a surprise. The product is coming of age in America." Of 658 drinking adults ages 18 and older polled this month, 39 percent said they prefer wine, compared with 36 percent for beer and 21 percent for liquor. The poll, taken July 7-10, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. When Gallup first asked the question 13 years ago, 47 percent picked beer and 27 percent chose wine. Liquor has consistently ranked third. Wine's popularity has gained steadily during the last decade, those in the industry believe, because of studies touting its health benefits, advertising that appeals to consumers at least 30 years old and interest generated by the surprise hit film "Sideways." Also, they say, wine drinkers in their 30s and 40s -- the children of baby boomers -- grew up with wine on the dinner table. Molly Perello, a co-owner of 1865 Restaurant in San Luis Obispo, said wine consumers have become more interested over time in learning about the varietals they're drinking and how they pair with food. "I think one of the things that the wine industry pushes, and is so very true, is that pairing the right food with the right wine (produces) an over-the-top sensation," she said. Perello and others say younger drinkers are more interested in the buzz alcohol produces than the drink itself. Among adults ages 18 to 29, beer is still the preferred choice, but it is losing ground to mixed drinks such as martinis. Cynthia Reed, owner of Vinoteca Wine Bar in Paso Robles, said most of her customers are at least 35 years old. But she said the younger drinkers she serves are more sophisticated than previous generations that age. "It's skyrocketing to me," she said. "They're drinking their wine, they're enjoying their wine, and they're asking questions about their wine." Area vineyards reap benefits of education and advertising The Tribune, Laurie Phillips To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Sea Pines Golf Resort in Los OsosThursday, July 21, 2005 Sea Pines Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest and most challenging executive 9-hole golf courses in California. The course offers stunning views of the Morro Bay Estuary, Morro Rock and protected rare coastal dunes. From tee to green, the course is kept in excellent condition.The resort is bordered by ocean dunes, bay views, picturesque Montana de oro State Park and the charming quiet villages of Los Osos and Baywood Park. In addition to our golf course, we have a driving range and practice areas equipped with two putting greens and a chipping area to help sharpen your skills. This flat course has many trees lining its narrow fairways. There are water hazards on two holes. The course is scenic and has many views of the bay. You will find the course and the surrounding beauty, including natural wildlife, a place you will want to come play again and again. Sea Pines Golf Course's Pro Shop is designed to make your golfing experience easy and fun. Check out the great selection of clothing, accessories, shoes, and clubs for sale for both men and women. Golf carts can be reserved and rented in advance and are also available on a first-come first-serve basis. We also have rental clubs available for adults and children. For your convenience, we have range balls by the bucket for rent to use on our driving range. In addition to our restaurant, we have cold drinks and snacks for sale too! The Sea Pines Golf Academy offers lessons and clinics for beginners, juniors and adults. Free golf clinics are offered regularly as well as Spring and Summer Junior Camps. Gary Setting, Sea Pines Head Golf Professional, heads up the San Luis Obispo County Junior Golf Association. Sea Pines is a unique course in San Luis Obispo County in that it offers its own accommodations. The 44-room lodge is rated three diamonds by the American Automobile Association of America. All rooms are located on the golf course and have either views of the bay or fairways. To make online tee-time reservations at Sea Pines Golf Resort, visit Golf SLO - Your online guide to San Luis Obispo County golf. www.GolfSLO.com New Jobs at SLO CostcoWednesday, July 13, 2005SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Thousands of people have applied for jobs at the new store opening in one Central Coast city, but only a small portion will be hired.Costco is now taking applications for it's new location on Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo. Nearly 2,300 people have filled out applications, but only 200 will be hired. Some are hoping they are chosen to work at the wholesale food and retail giant. Rita Mejia has spent the past two months looking for a job and says working for Costco would make the difference. "I have a four-year old daughter and it's really hard to try and support her off what i'm making now. It just doesn't work with the cost of living." Mejia said. Costco general manager Jay Doughty says they expected a large amount of people to apply, but not nearly as much as what they've seen. "We expected 2,000 applications and have exceeded that and headed towards 3,000. We're actually ordering more applications" says Doughty. The San Luis Obispo job market is booming, with the latest numbers showing that the unemployment rate is down from last year. The businesses in the new Court Street retail center on Osos and Higuera recently hired more than 200 hundred employees. The four stores we checked with have no openings and are fully staffed--which can be a problem for people like Mejia. "I mean working retail around here, it's hard to find a good job. I tried applying at other places." Mejia is hoping for a call starting next week as interviews begin on Monday, July 18. Costco says they will continute to accept applications until all positions are filled. Tour de California through SLOTuesday, July 12, 2005A bicycle race modeled after the Tour de France may ride through San Luis Obispo next year.The city is in the running to be one of 10 stops for the Tour of California, an 8-day stage bicycle race scheduled to have its inaugural ride in February 2006. The Tour of Georgia, a similar race, is three years old and brought an estimated $35 million in sales and hotel tax revenues last year. An estimated 800,000 folks came out to watch cyclist pedal through Georgia this year. Organizers expect more fans and some of the Tour de France's famous faces for California's race. Tour de California may come through SLO The Tribune, Leslie Griffy To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SLO's Last Wave OriginalsMonday, July 11, 2005A new website and on-line store has been launched by Last Wave Originals, Inc. of San Luis Obispo, CA. The site features a collection of logowear bearing the names of memorable surfboard builders from the '50s, '60s and early '70s. More than just another on-line store, the site also provide interesting historical information, photos of vintage surfboards, and more."We're really trying to put the surfing spirit into the site," says president Ted Rich. "We're not just selling a bunch of t-shirts, we're selling a popular lifestyle that was born some 50 years ago. To do that, tell the story behind those colorful guys that helped shape our sport…how they got started, the contributions they made, and so on." The website, www.lastwave.com, is part photo gallery, part biography and part on-line store. Rich, who started surfing in 1966, and partner Wayne Barnes have been working on the idea for about five years, collecting information on legendary surfers and surfboard builders from the sport's "golden era". A blend of well-known, classic logos, some more obscure names, and a few modern offerings is what Last Wave Originals is all about. Some names have been around for over 40 years while others left the industry in the late ‘60s only to re-emerge in recent years. "We're trying to tell the story behind every brand we carry," Rich says. "They all have an interesting history and they all made a contribution to surfing. We've been lucky to meet many of these guys, and they definitely have some great stories to tell." "In the 90's, content was king on the web," says Barnes. "But now, many sites are just electronic catalogs with very little content. The Last Wave website features photos, bios and links to other sites – reasons to visit the site besides to shop. We hope to be more of a "destination" site than just a store." "We want to give something back to surfing by including some of it's history and by making available a collection of information and products tied to those early days," says Rich. "If you look around at the boards that are being ridden today, you can see how much influence that time period is having on the present. We'd like to think we're not stuck in the past; we're sort of honoring those guys who shaped the sport of surfing – then and now." Last Wave Originals Set to Make Waves New SLO County Trail SystemSunday, July 10, 2005County trail plan unveiled and hundreds of new recreation facilities proposed...Hiking, bicycling and horse riding opportunities for county residents and their descendants could expand greatly under plans being scrutinized by the County Parks and Recreation Commission. The commission has been mulling whether and how to build new trails and parks throughout the county, as far north as San Miguel, as far south as Nipomo, from the coast to the Kern County line. Its proposals, if adopted, would create hundreds of new recreation facilities, dozens of them trails for equestrians, bicyclists and hikers. The parks document is thick, with a dizzying panoply of proposals on its wish list. It suggests completing the county portion of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail that will eventually stretch from Sonora, Mexico, to San Francisco, and advocates protecting Monarch butterfly preserves. It proposes a new trail along the famed Moonstone Beach Drive in Cambria and many others that would connect subdivisions and schools in the county's more urban areas. Nipomo, for example, hopes to one day see "a series of multi-use trails connecting schools, parks, neighborhoods and commercial areas." Others would give bicycle-riding children a safe alternative to the highways. The projects face many obstacles, not the least being cost. County Parks Manager Pete Jenny has said there is barely enough money to maintain current parks, let alone buy new properties. A series of hearings this summer will gather public input. The parks commission, its staff and consultants will incorporate public comments, answer questions, revise the document and eventually send it to the Planning Commission, hopefully by fall, Jenny said. There is quite a bit of opposition already from property owners who fear access near their property will invite vandalism. Read entire article at: County trail plan unveiled The Tribune, Bob Cuddy To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Tolosa Winery's Wine ToursSaturday, July 09, 2005A San Luis Obispo winery is helping turn wine novices into connoisseurs with a new educational tool.If you're an inexperienced wine lover, you aren't alone. "I would like to know more about the basics about how it's made, how it's grown, things of that nature," says San Luis Obispo resident Nick Musial. "I'm doing a senior project on a feasibility study about growing a vineyard, so I think it might come in handy with some of that stuff." Musial is one of the first to test out Tolosa Winery's new self-guided wine tour. A parade of stainless steel podiums guide visitors through the winemaking process, helping them tap into the often-intimidating world of wine. "The whole motivation is to take the intimidation out of the winemaking process," says winery marketing director Tami Carija. "To make it more accessible, understandable, not intimidating. We live in a world that is wine, but to most of the population, it's an enigma to them." To help promote agri-tourism on the Central Coast, Tolosa Winery is also launching live webcam productions that will broadcast their harvests and wine seminars on the Internet. "The Internet is open to the world, and if you're in Iowa and you're into wine, and if you saw the things that will be on our live webcast, you'll want to come here," says Carija. "Having a webcast that people can view all around the world will just help us exponentially grow our region from interest. From and interest standpoint, they'll say, 'I didn't know that, San Luis Obispo has all that?' Yeah, we do." The live web productions will begin at the end of July. Tolosa Winery staff say they hope other Central Coast wineries follow suit, saying it would help bring more tourists to our area and be a big boost to the local economy. Tour teaches vine to wine basics KSBY, Adrienne Moore SLO County Farmers MarketsFriday, July 08, 2005Small farms increasingly depend on farmers markets to survive; the county offers 18 of the popular events weekly, with at least one around the region on any given dayFor the past 15 years, Bautista Farms in Arroyo Grande has sold fresh lettuce, onions and strawberries at more than a dozen farmers markets a week. "We only sell our produce at the markets," employee Iries Perez said. "They're the lifeblood of local farm families." Like many small farms, Bautista Farms survives solely off the money it makes at farmers markets. In San Luis Obispo County, there are 18 such markets, held somewhere in the county any day of the week, but many farmers travel as far as Santa Monica or San Francisco to sell their produce. Chuck Lenet, owner of 7th Heaven, an organic farm in Cayucos, travels out of the county to sell his berries. He often goes to the Santa Monica market because it's busier and he can get about 20 percent more per basket for the juicy fruit. "Our stuff is much fresher than what you'll find at the store," he said. "People want better quality products." Time equals money for farmers who can't spend all day trying to sell their produce, said Marcia Perez, who oversees five markets in the North County. "The concept of the markets is to sell a lot in two hours so they can get back to their farms," she said. "These people are trying to remain farmers." The amount of money farmers make at the markets varies by season, weather, and how the crop turned out that year. It's unclear how much these farmers earn because some only sell one item and others sell many types of produce, Perez said. People who work on small farms depend on local farmers markets for good reason. Since 2000, the number of markets in the county has doubled. The trend continues statewide, with an estimated 300 to 400 farmers markets in California, said Peter Jankay, administrator for the San Luis Obispo County Farmers Market Association. The markets benefit more than local farmers, they can also rejuvenate downtowns and help local businesses. The San Luis Obispo Downtown Association received so many inquiries on the Thursday night market that they created a video and book titled, "How to have a farmers market in your town." More and more people want to know where their food is coming from, Jankay said. The trend reflects an effort to "bring back the milkman," said Guillermo Payet, who founded Local Harvest, an online listing of California's farmers markets. But the popularity of farmers markets is not always beneficial for the small farmer. The Thursday night market in San Luis Obispo, for example, gets the most visitors, but Perez said the event's street fair atmosphere can overshadow the sale of produce. "It's harder to make a living than it used to be," Perez said. Even so, county farmers are grateful for their loyal customers. James VanDiemen, who recently visited the Arroyo Grande market, tries to attend markets regularly to support local farmers. "I like San Luis Obispo's and Avila's," he said. "I like the flowers and fresh produce. And I really like the ambience." Organic berry farmer Lenet hopes to see even more visitors in the future. "Most of our customers are regulars who come time and time again," he said. "If we could expand that, it would be great." Farmers markets are held year-round throughout SLO County.
Local Harvest: www.localharvest.org San Luis Obispo: www.downtownslo.com Agriculture Department: www.sloag.org San Miguel: www.discoversanmiguel.com Ripe for the pickin' The Tribune, Dawn Rapp To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Arroyo Grande now Arroyo GreendeWednesday, July 06, 2005The next time Arroyo Grande undertakes a building project, it will consider "green" alternatives. It's the first city in the county to formally agree to do so; it likely won't be the last.SLO Green Build, a nonprofit promoting environmentally friendly building, has been lobbying the county and its seven cities to adopt green principles, and it's getting considerable interest. In Arroyo Grande, the city will now consider such things as designing buildings to use less water and electricity, using fewer toxic building materials, and recycling "gray" water -- water that has been used in sinks and showers but not toilets -- for landscaping. It will encourage private developers to do the same, though neither face any requirements. The green building movement has been spreading across the country -- and locally. The new county building at Monterey and Santa Rosa streets in San Luis Obispo incorporates elements of the concept, as do buildings built by Habitat for Humanity and other nonprofit groups. The Botanical Garden and Educational Center, in El Chorro Regional Park on Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, will be the first building in the county to adhere to a national program certifying green building. When finished, it will have a raised floor to cool the air and employ energy-saving strategies. The San Luis Obispo planning commission is considering adopting green building principles in its long-term planning and recommendations on individual projects. Arroyo Grande entered a $2,000, five-year contract under which Green Build will conduct workshops for city employees. And the city agreed to consider and encourage green alternatives, something Green Build hopes other cities in the area will do as well. Even the private sector is interested in green. Jerry Bunin, government affairs director of the Home Builders Association of the Central Coast, said builders already incorporate some of SLO Green Build's recommended principles. But with the cost of housing already high, the organization is wary of anything that might become mandatory or that "adds unnecessarily to the cost," Bunin said. If they make it mandatory to have solar housing, for example, he said, it could make houses even more unaffordable. County Supervisor Jim Patterson, a green supporter, concedes that the problem with green alternatives is the up-front money. It's a smart investment in the long run, he said, but it takes an initial outlay that is beyond the reach of some people. SLO Green Build's Mikal Robertson is aware of the builders' concerns and says governments should provide incentives for them to build green, such as an expedited permit process, reduction in permit costs, even public relations help in promoting green homes. SLO Green Build - San Luis Obispo Green Building Program AG first in county to think green The Tribune, Bob Cuddy To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SLO Tourism Funding DownTuesday, July 05, 2005It's the number one industry in San Luis Obispo County, but tourism is getting second billing when it comes to money spent on advertising.Currently, the San Luis Obispo County tourism board has $800,000 to spend on tourism money-- one-third the amount of Monterey County's, and half as much as Santa Barbara County. "I think it's a fallacy because we are on the Central Coast, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, that we don't have to promote," says Jonni Biaginni, of the San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau. "People will just come here and it just isn't true." Cities across the county contribute to the tourism bureau, often getting a return for the investment of 10 times or more. The San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau recently lost more than $50,000 from Morro Bay, and this year will only receive $5,000 from the city. "Tourism is just one of those businesses that has to be promoted," says Biaginni. "Coca-Cola doesn't stop because they are number one, it's the perpetual feeding that has to take place in order to benefit." Patricia Koberl owns Blue restaurant in San Luis Obispo, and says it's vital that tourists know what the Central Coast has to offer. "If the town does not have a lot of tourism, we won't succeed, so it is extremely important that when the tourists come here, we keep them happy," says Koberl. The visitor's bureau is looking into weaving tourism into various improvement districts as a way to stabilize funding. KSBY, Rob Carlmark Read More
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