Though locals are gearing up to vote in June’s primary, a group of frustrated Grover Beach residents is looking ahead to November to make changes in the beach city.
At the Feb. 10 Grover Beach City Council meeting, resident Mike Wilson delivered a notice of intent to circulate a petition to adopt an ordinance limiting building heights.
If the measure makes the November ballot, Grover Beach voters must decide if they want developers to set aside 33 percent of mixed-use buildings for commercial use, lower the height of buildings in commercial zoning districts to 40 feet, and ensure buildings in industrial zones aren’t taller than 33 feet.
“In there is also a caveat that essentially is a wink to clarity and recognizes that no modification can be made unless it’s done as a vote before the public of Grover Beach,” Wilson said at the meeting. “I understand that there may be those who’ll tell you how this could go wrong: managers, planners, investors, developers. But I can tell you one way that it’ll go magnificently well: Simply follow the will of the people.”
Wilson belongs to a citizens group that opposed a string of new developments on the western end of downtown Grover Beach, such as the Bella Vista Villas from Empire Development and Construction and several Coastal Community Builders projects like Trinity and the recently proposed 28-townhome Solstice.
The group believes that these multi-story developments will disrupt the town’s character and block public coastal views.
Since last October, group member Kelvin Coveduck has been asking the City Council to publicly discuss lowering the height limit for the Solstice project on Front Street. He told New Times that the City Council will deliberate the item at a meeting in March but that the group couldn’t wait any longer.
“It’s too late for Front Street, but it won’t be too late for Grover Beach,” Coveduck said.
Some members of the citizens group have a history of taking their dissatisfaction to the ballot.
Through ballot measures, they recalled former City Councilmember Dan Rushing for supporting a citywide water rate increase for the Central Coast Blue project and repealed the rate hike. They tried and failed to recall former Grover Beach Mayor Karen Bright and former Councilmember Zach Zimmerman for also approving the rate increase.
The members—then part of a group called Grover H20—also filed a lawsuit in 2024 alleging that City Clerk Wendi Sims had unlawfully rejected recall petitions. A San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ordered that recall organizers must be allowed to circulate the petitions.
‘It’s too late for Front Street, but it won’t be too late for Grover Beach.’
— Kelvin Coveduck, Grover Beach resident
The November ballot will include a measure to make the city clerk position an elected post rather than an appointed one.
“It’s the opinion of some residents that the city clerk is appointed by the City Council and therefore has their best interest at heart versus the people’s best interest,” Coveduck said.
City Council members remained silent after Wilson, Coveduck, and other members declared their intent to file another ballot petition. Councilmember Clint Weirick told New Times that the council could only consider the petition when it’s legally appropriate.
“At this early stage, I believe it is our responsibility to respect this process our residents have started while maintaining open communication with them and listening to the community’s concerns, which I remain committed to doing,” he said.
If the petition gets enough signatures, the City Council could either adopt the ordinance without making changes, submit the unaltered ordinance to be placed on the ballot, or order an impact report in accordance with the election code. Once it receives that report, the council could either adopt the ordinance within 10 days or order it to be placed on the November ballot.
City Clerk Sims said that the city attorney will have 15 days to review and return the petition documents to the election official who will reach out to the group.
“The council does not approve the petition prior to collecting signatures,” Sims said. “The proponents of the petition after receiving the ballot title and wording then need to publish the petition in an adjudicated newspaper prior to circulating for signatures and file a proof of publication with the elections official during normal business hours within 10 days of the publication.” ∆
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2026.