Landowner Colin Weyrick, the founder of the longstanding Weyrick Lumber/Sand and Gravel company, moved for a double land use rule amendment that encourages growth in Templeton and eases the way for constructing more covered storage structures.
More than a year in the making, Weyrick’s request for a general plan and land use ordinance amendment, combined with another application to tweak the Templeton Community Standards to reflect the land use category designation change, received unanimous approval from the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 8.
“One part of the request is to change the land use designation of the residential parcel from ‘residential rural’ to ‘residential suburban,'” SLO County Planner Claire Momberger told supervisors. “Then to establish a discretionary land use permit requirement for future development on that residential parcel.”
In other words, Weyrick’s 15.8-acre rural parcel stands to fit more parcels within it allowed by an approved subdivision. The proposed land use category change from rural to suburban would increase the subdivision potential of the parcel from three to 15 possible lots. But Weyrick hasn’t submitted an application for subdivision. The residential rural parcel west of Highway 101 and Theatre Drive currently houses oak woodlands and an unnamed stream.
“The proposed [general plan] amendment and the increased subdivision potential could contribute to the housing supply in this part of the unincorporated county because of the lower minimum parcel size requirement,” the county staff report read. “The proposed [general plan] amendment would be limited to the project site and would not affect allowable uses on other adjacent parcels within the [rural suburban] land use category immediately surrounding the project site.”
Momberger didn’t respond to New Times‘ request for comment.
Weyrick is also thinking of his family business. In the current version of the land use ordinance, two commercial service parcels on the project site are subject to 20 percent building concealment. This was done to improve the view from Highway 101. Now, Weyrick wants to remove the 20 percent cap altogether to add more covered storage structures for building materials.
While county staff agreed to Weyrick’s requests, they supplemented the changes with one of their own: an amendment to the Templeton Community Standards that would scan for developable areas in the 15.8-acre parcel through a conditional use permit and avoid valuable biological resources.
“The recommended planning area standard would ensure that the initial development or subdivision proposed on the parcel would be evaluated for compatibility with the site and surrounding land uses and be subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act,” the staff report read. Δ
This article appears in Oct 10-20, 2024.