At 31 years old, Karen Windeler and her husband bought a double lot with the intention of building what would one day become their retirement home. Windeler is now 62, and she’s never been able to build on her property because of a building moratorium.
“I’m retired now, and all my dreams are gone,” she told New Times.
In April, Windeler joined five other property owners in filing a petition and complaint against the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD) and San Luis Obispo County to gain the right to build on their properties.
The petition states that the county and the district have “prevented lot owners from developing their property under the pretense of a shortage of water emergency to justify the denial of water and sewer services, even refusing to accept applications for service.”
In 1986, the district created a waiting list for new water and sewer hookups. The list—which exists to this day—was closed in 1990 in accordance with the county’s growth management ordinance. The ordinance monitors the number of homes that can be built in the unincorporated areas of the county during a fiscal year. While the unincorporated areas’ growth rate is capped at 2.3 percent, Cambria’s growth rate was reduced to zero percent in 2000.
Airlin Singewald, a senior planner in the SLO County Planning and Building Department, said the zero percent growth limit is consistent with the CCSD’s moratorium on new water connections due to water supply limitations.
In November 2001, the district declared a Water Code 350 emergency. A water distributor can call the emergency whenever it finds that the its water consumers’ demands can’t be satisfied without depleting the water supply to the extent that there would be insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation, and fire. The emergency condition, which established a moratorium on building, is still in effect.
There are three wait lists for property owners who are still waiting for their chance at getting water and sewer hookups: single-family residential (with 665 property owners), commercial (10), and multi-family residential (13).
Windeler said she remembers that after purchasing her lot, she learned that property owners had to pay a fee to get on the list.
“They wanted too much money and we thought, ‘OK, it’s going to be a few years before we could do that anyway,’ so we waited,” she said.
In 1994, Windeler and her husband contacted a company to help them design their home and estimate development costs. During that process, she said, she contacted the CCSD about getting on the list.
“We were told [by the district] at that time that the list was closed, and I was getting regular bulletins from them, but I never knew that,” she said.
After Windeler realized that the CCSD had closed its wait list, she called the county and found out that there was a surplus waiting list. She said she paid a one-time fee of $500 to secure a spot and waited.
“Over the next few years, we contacted them regularly to check the status of our waiting list number, and it kept going down,” she said. “So we thought, ‘OK someday we’ll get a water and sewer permit.'”
A former CCSD employee, who asked New Times not to use their name and who managed the water waiting list prior to 2014, said that people who were on the list didn’t think the building moratorium was going to last as long as it did. The former employee also said that as far as they knew, lot owners on the waiting list didn’t receive a letter warning them of the building moratorium in 2001.
Lot owners on the list have to pay an annual fee to maintain their position in line. The CCSD website states that the fee is $88. According to district budgets, the CCSD received $98,162 from the “waitlist maintenance fee” in 2016-17 and $61,630 in 2017-18.
Megan Martin, a supervising planner in the SLO County Planning and Building Department, said the last property owner was placed on the list in 2006, and that the list is still on file, pending a change in Cambria’s resources.
Windeler said that she called the county a few years ago to check on her status and was told there wasn’t a list. She hasn’t called since.
In 2017, Windeler and her husband submitted an application to the county for a minor-use permit requesting just sewer services from the district. They proposed trucking in water and putting in a septic system, so they could finally build their dream home. It was denied.
The denial, the long wait, and frustration Windeler has dealt with for more than three decades was reason enough to join the petition against the CCSD and county, she said.
“They essentially cut you off from doing anything on the property, and yet I continue to pay property taxes for the last 30 years as well as abatement every year,” she said. “It felt like they didn’t want more people there; they were using water as the reason for limiting building.”
Senior Planner Singewald told New Times that in order to allow new development in Cambria, the district would have to obtain coastal development approval for its sustainable water facility and lift its moratorium on new water connections. The county would also have to amend the growth ordinance to increase Cambria’s growth rate to higher than zero percent.
As for Windeler, all she wants is justice.
“You want to keep the property because of whatever reason, then fine. Pay me for it or let me build on it. I don’t have many years left,” she said. Δ
Staff Writer Karen Garcia can be reached at kgarcia@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sep 6-16, 2018.
Good for them! It is about time! We were lot owners too on the CCSD wait list #15. We gave up and sold.
We fought the county for years to get a covenant (on the cusp of being illegal) removed off our deed in SLO county. Almost 4 years of battling the county government and 5 lost sales due to loan companies would not borrow to potential buyers with the covenant in place, it finally was removed. There are a few thousand property owners in SLO county that also have this covenant placed on their property without knowledge of the selling consequences. Continue the battle!
We have been waiting for nearly 20 years also. How do we join in this petition?
My husband and I have owned a lot since 2001. We would like to join this petition too. The situation in Cambria clearly constitutes A Regulatory Taking and most of the lot owners are paying taxes without representation. This has gone too far for too long. The moratorium was supposed to be temporary. It seems to me that 17 years is not temporary. There is no emergency for water and since the desalination plant was installed and has proven to function well, there should be no water moratorium. Property owners should be allowed to build and this grotesque property rights violation should be put to rest once and for all. The town of Cambria is in sorry need of vitality and new blood. The Cambria Community Service District needs money. This would be a win-win for all. Please reach out to me at joan@re-pro.com.
It seems to me that this is borderline illegal and yet it continues to happen. These water lists have been an issue since I was a small girl and Im 53 now. I wanted to build green or to put in a self contained tiny home and I was also told no. I have lived on the central coast all my life and work in Cambria and there is no exception for locals either. I am now semi retired and getting too old to physically build myself and im super discouraged with not being able to do a green build here in Cambria. We arent even asking to pull permits for anything permanent or use any water or septic. we have composting toilets and water tanks etc. Who does the county think they are telling me I cant use my own land? I am not using any county resources at all.
Good luck with a petition. I went through this exact same scenario back in the late 70’s in Lake Tahoe. We had seven lots, graded, ready to build spec houses, all of our money tied up, plus bank loans. Then the Tahoe Basin agency responsble for water clarity determined that there was an emerging danger of the Lake becoming cloudy. All sewer permits were stopped for two years. We went out of business, lost everything. There was no legal recourse back then. Maybe laws have changed but don’t hold your breath. You have no ‘right’ to a building or sewer permit. Local entities have the authority to determined when, and if, you are granted a permit. Now, if the landowners can prove that the laws were not properly followed, that is another thing.
Oh my,
While I did as much “due diligence” as I could – this is the first time I have come across this issue (mentioned anywhere) – and now I am feeling quite down about the piece of land I have just purchased – I am sure that ” composting toilets & trucking in water” – can not be denied!! Any local area that wants to thrive needs & must support it’s local residents! I come from Australia and we have a lot less water to live on in most areas – even the city areas, than what Cambria uses just to maintain its “public face” for local council & state/international promotional purposes! I would like to support the petition against them – whereby they need to evolve to survive or be voted out.. We, as landowners support sustainable living – the local council must do the same 🙂
my email: justine@lvrdg.com – I come from dry country area in Northern NSW, Australia with catergory 5 restrictions ie: only flush if you must etc.. some areas have no water coming at all!!!
Purchasing Real Estate Lots for build out sometime in the distant future is speculative. You knew there was a moratorium; find out why, do some research before buying, validate. Didnt you wonder why lot prices are so low? Too good to be true usually is. This is on you. Grow up.
Cambria truly has limited water and cannot support more homes. The Emergency Water Facility has been inactive since its installation in 2014. Not approved by California Coastal Commission and other licensing agencies due to a number of serious issues and that wont change. Huge mistake by CCSD to install it, against the majority of Cambrians wishes for the same reasons as the CCC and St. of Ca. licensing agencies dont approve it. End of story.