Beach town blueprint

Beach town blueprint

By April Charlton/acharlton@timespressrecorder.com
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A view from atop the Pismo Beach Hotel of downtown Pismo Beach and the Pismo Pier. Pismo Beach is looking for ways to spruce up downtown, including turning part of Cypress Street into a pedestrian plaza, building a parking structure in the pier area, installing a Ferris wheel or adding public art. // Daniel Dreifuss/Staff

Big and bold changes could be in store for downtown Pismo Beach, where city leaders launched a visioning effort for future development of the area that draws thousands of people from the Central Valley every summer.

Officials took the first step Tuesday toward creating a new vision for the downtown core during a joint meeting of the City Council, Planning Commission and Parking Advisory Committee.

“This is a moment we’ve all been talking about for a long time,” said Pismo Beach City Manager Jim Lewis, adding the effort to define guidelines for the future look of downtown isn’t a plan to tear apart the area and rebuild it.

Lewis was an integral player in the effort to revitalize downtown Atascadero during the time he served as that city’s assistant city manager. He told city leaders for the emerging plan to be a success, there must be buy-in from downtown property and business owners.

“At the end of the day, it’s the private sector that invests in their properties,” Lewis said, adding any future vision developed for downtown also would need to expand economic opportunity in the area to prove beneficial.

He encouraged city leaders and anyone else with a stake in the downtown core to walk the area and think about what they envision for the area.

“There’s nothing like walking the streets and finding something you might miss just sitting in this room,” Lewis said. “Ask yourselves, ‘What is my vision for downtown Pismo Beach?’’’

Over the next several months, Pismo plans to host small discussion groups with downtown property and business owners, larger-format public workshops and walking tours to gather information about what people want to see in the area.

The area has been identified, from east to west, as Highway 101 to the beach, including Pomeroy Avenue and Price Street to the Highway 101 on-ramp near Clam Island, and, north to south from Pismo Creek to the corner of Dolliver (Highway 1) and Price streets.

The city also will employ surveys to garner input from the public starting this fall. Mayor Shelly Higginbotham voiced concern that the timing could prevent many of Pismo Beach’s seasonal visitors from participating in the process.

She suggested running advertisements in Central Valley newspapers to solicit opinions from people who live in the Valley and come frequently to Pismo Beach as a vacation destination.

“I want input from the people who have sustained us for the last 50 years,” Higginbotham said. “(They are) a huge segment.”

Potential ideas suggested during Tuesday’s meeting included closing areas — a portion of Cypress Street possibly, the pier parking lot — and creating a pedestrian-type plaza, with outdoor seating, additional landscaping, wider sidewalks, water features, patio dining and new lighting.

A Ferris wheel at the beach, high-technology business park, a restaurant row along Price Street also came up during discussions.

Other ideas envisioned a new entrance to Pismo at the corner of Price and Dolliver (Highway 1) streets that could include a pedestrian-type plaza, and increased density along Dolliver, where residential lofts could be constructed above commercial space.

Lewis stressed the drawings shown during the meeting were only concepts and no one was advocating for buildings to be razed or businesses to be forced out of downtown.

“We are in no way suggesting the buildings or businesses go away,” Lewis said.

The council authorized hiring a consultant to help staff develop a plan for downtown.

A proposed specific plan for future development in downtown likely will come back to the council in the spring.

Ideas for Pismo Beach

Ferris wheel at the beach

Pedestrian-type plaza

Restaurant row along Price Street

Patio dining

High-technology business park

Residential lofts constructed above commercial space

Posted Friday July 19, 2013