A controversial housing project that's expected to bring 1400 homes and apartments to the unincorporated area of Nipomo has cleared its final hurdle. The San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) agreed to annex the Dana Reserve Project. That means the agency will allow the development to use water and sewage services from the Nipomo District.
The LAFCO approval was the final step in the project’s approval process.
Jimmy Paulding is a member of the board, and represents the Nipomo district on the Board of Supervisors. He was the lone vote against the annexation.
Paulding said he disagreed with the board’s findings about how the project will contribute to urban sprawl, and whether the community is able to support the growth.
“In this case adding 4500 new people to the community of Nipomo…I really took issue with that latter part in the sense that we really don't have the sheriff's deputies, we need firefighters, facilities like a new fire station, things like that to serve the existing needs of Nipomo,” Paulding said.
In a 3-2 vote, the SLO County Board of Supervisors approved the Dana Reserve Project earlier this year. Paulding also opposed the project at the time.
“Somehow over the years this project morphed into, ‘we want higher density housing, we want affordable housing, all these things’ and only a thousand of those homes as are currently presented are in the above moderate income category—meaning they don't count towards any of the affordable housing goals that the county has—and that was one of the issues that I cited.”
Backers of the project said it would bring much-needed housing to the Central Coast. Paulding said he understands that the region needs more housing, but he said this project was not the way to provide it.
The Dana Reserve Project will likely be completed in the next decade.
