State OKs Lodge in Grover Beach: State Will Work With City on Long-Discussed 150-Room Project
By Larissa Van Beurden-Doust, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
May 12–A proposed lodge and conference center in Grover Beach has been approved as a good fit for the area by the State Parks and Recreation Commission.
Today’s decision means the 150-room lodge and conference facility — which has been discussed since the early 1980s – can move forward. If the commission had not approved it, the project could have been delayed another three to four years, said Grover Beach City Councilman John Shoals.
The state and city must work together on the project, which will be located at the end of Grand Avenue, because it will be located on state-owned land.
Shoals made the project a high priority since being elected to the council in 2002. City and state representatives have been meeting monthly for about two years trying to get the project going. He and fellow councilman Steve Lieberman attended the commission’s meeting in San Juan Batista. Both were giddy with excitement as they drove home around 11 a.m. Shoals joked that he wasn’t sure if commission chair Clint Eastwood liked his impersonation.
“We have this euphoric feeling,” Shoals said. “It’s exciting. This project has been on the books for so long…it is great to know it is close to being a reality.”
Both the state and Grover Beach stand to gain revenue from sales tax and hotel tax from the project.
Next week, Grover Beach and state officials will hopefully finish a joint powers agreement, Shoals said, which details who will be responsible for each part of the project, such as finding a developer, sharing revenue and maintaining the site.
Once completed, it will be brought to the Grover Beach City Council for approval. If approved, developers will be sought.
The lodge is expected to be a catalyst for redeveloping Grover Beach.
–Larissa Van Beurden-Doust
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
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