GOOD NEWS REAL NEWS HOMETOWN NEWS
SINCE 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CV, NO. XXVII
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022
GOVERNMENT
CONTEST
City Council Proclaims July as Parks Make Life Better Month
Council discusses the Objective Design Standards Project By CHRISTIANNA MARKS christianna@atascaderonews.com
ATASCADERO—The Atascadero City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 12, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers. The agenda for the night passed unanimously. The council brought forth a proclamation declaring July as Parks Make Life Better Month. Former Parks Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Heather Newsom read the proclamation celebrating the multiple parks in Atascadero. “The City of Atascadero accepting this proclamation and making it official is a big deal. It sets a president for other agencies in our district and statewide,” said California
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Park and Recreation Society, District 8 President Jennifer Fanning. “Thank you all council members and mayor for making that proclamation happen.” Mayor Heather Moreno thanked Fanning for her commitment and dedication to serving the residents of Atascadero through the park system. The Consent Calendar, which included the March 2022 Investment Report and the continuation of hybrid meetings, passed unanimously. The council was then presented with the city’s Objective Design Standards Project Update. This is an ongoing item and was solely a discussion topic Miss California Mid-State Fair Contestants (from left) Jenna Shapero, Vanessa Espinoza, Brooke Smith, Sarah Barr, and Jenna Tatman. Photo by Kellee Jean Photography for the evening. “Well, it’s been a couple of years we’ve been thinking about bringing this forward to the community and talking about objective design standards,” said Community Development 52nd year. This year, the Director Phil Dunsmore. “It The Miss CMSF Each contestant will with various dignitaries. stems from one of the policies Pageant is July 20 on pageant will be held on July compete in the following four Contestants will receive 20 at 7 p.m. on the Frontier categories: Interview, Talent, swag, with the Queen receivin our recently adopted housing element, and that’s to adopt the Frontier Stage Stage. Final Question, and Evening ing a $1,000 cash prize, the objective design standards that By CHRISTIANNA MARKS The pageant will feature five Wear. If selected as Queen or first Princess $500, and the really help straighten our local christianna@atascaderonews.com girls from the North County Princess, their responsibilities second Princess $250. All will control over the design of future this year, and Miss California will include participating in also receive various prizes from multi-family and mixed-use PASO ROBLES — The Mid-State Fair and her court numerous public events such local businesses. Miss California Mid-State will be crowned at the end of as introducing performers, projects. Atascadero News asked this CONTINUED ON PAGE A15 Fair Pageant is back for its the evening. taking pictures, and meeting CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
Get to Know the Miss California Mid-State Fair Pageant Contestants
HOMELESS
COUNTY
San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Discusses Paso Basin Supervisors approved amendments to agricultural offset requirements for the basin By CAMILLE DEVAUL camille@atascaderonews.com
Law enforcement personnel supervise the evacuation of the homeless encampment discovered next to the Morro Road offramp of Highway 101. Photo by Nic Mattson
Law Enforcement Evacuates Encampment Along US 101 An encampment was exposed near the Morro Road offramp after CalTrans trimmed trees
programs, worked to evacuate a homeless encampment along U.S. Highway 101 near the southbound Morro Road offramp this week. After Caltrans trimmed trees and bushes along the By CAMILLE DEVAUL offramp, an encampment was AND NIC MATTSON exposed, which promoted the camille@atascaderonews.com evacuation. ATASCADERO — AtasAccording to APD Cpl. cadero Police Department Rochelle Hanson, Caltrans (APD), along with outreach moved the encampment from
COMMUNITY
CITY
US 101 — which is state property — to the City of Atascadero. The line between is a chainlink fence. “Citizens are upset,” Hanson said. “They are complaining that it is atrocious and that they are not proud to live in Atascadero anymore.” Hanson, a member of the APD since 2004, has a long history with the people CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
NEWS
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 12, where they discussed and made decisions regarding the Paso Basin. During public comment, residents made several comments on the recent election, which was certified by County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano on July 7. One resident said she sent a letter to Cano asking for data from the general and primary elections since 2020 to be preserved longer than their traditional expiration date. She additionally asked supervisors to
EVENTS
write a resolution for this preservation. District 5 Supervisor Debbie Arnold requested the item to be agendized before August. Cano will be bringing the election results to the Board of Supervisors for the July 19 meeting to declare the candidates. Supervisors approved amendments to the agricultural offset requirements for the Paso Basin. The amendments were specifically made to land use ordinance Title 22, Section 22.30.204, which started as an urgency ordinance back in 2013 and affects Districts 1 and 5. In addition, in 2015, the Ag Offset Ordinance was set in place to regulate new commercial plantings using Paso Basin Land Use Management Area (PBLUMA) groundwater wells with ministerial permits. Other objectives of the ordinance were: • Require “water neutral” new crop plantings • Allow an exemption for farms
to plant that are not able to under the existing agricultural offset ordinance • Conser ve groundwater resources for use by production agriculture. • Support a healthy and competitive agricultural industry. • Encourage and facilitate smaller production agriculture operations. Essentially, the ordinance restricted new crop planting permits until 2045 and implemented several other regulations on crops. A presentation on the ordinance was given by the county to the Agricultural Liaison Advisory Board on July 7. The presentation can be found online at files.constantcontact.com/ e0fd3f3d001/34921b5a-6eb14949-90a6-a678bba34185.pdf The San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau submitted a letter to San Luis Obispo County CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
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