City Council approves the proposal unanimously 

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. Councilmember Heather Newsom was absent. The main topic of the evening was the Del Rio Road Commercial Area Specific Plan, also known as the Del Rio Ranch Project.

“This is not the first time we’ve looked at this property. We’ve looked at this property a few times for different proposals, but now we’ve got one that fits,” said Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore to the council. 

Planning Manager Kelly Gleason then addressed the council with the details of the project, which is aimed towards tourism in the city, including lodging units and an RV park in the southeast project site of the Del Rio Road Commercial Area Specific Plan. The area currently covers 11 separate parcels and is about 26 acres in size.

“The Del Rio Road Specific Plan has been around for quite some time. It was originally adopted in 2012 with the Walmart project on this particular site. We came back for some amendments in 2020 when Walmart withdrew their application and opened up some development potential, and some use potential on the site, and redid some traffic analysis to help some projects move forward a little more quickly,” added Gleason.

The council saw the first version of Del Rio Ranch in 2021, which was also aimed towards tourists but also had a lot of commercial and mixed-use development, including an entertainment center, parking garage, amphitheater, and a conference center. Since 2021, the applicant team has revised its proposal and is moving forward with what was presented during this week’s meeting. The Planning Commission has already seen the recent proposal and recommended approval.

“There’s a master plan of development being considered tonight for what’s basically a large RV and glamping resort,” continued Gleason. “There’s a commercial center as well at the corner of El Camino [Real] and Del Rio, to be sort of the public-facing side of the project.”

There are close to 22,000 square feet of commercial use planned for the project. Featuring three-story commercial buildings with shops on the first floor and hotel units above. The site would also include 98 RV spaces, 70 glamping units, a minor detailing RV service station, pools, and a clubhouse area. Also included is a public road proposed off of El Camino Real as part of the Del Rio Road Commercial Area Specific Plan. The road will service properties to the south that are being rezoned to multi-family residential as part of the City’s General Plan Update.

Actions other than the Master Plan of Development for the night included a land use and zone change, which eliminates the residential portion of the site. Modification to the housing element, which takes the site out of the city’s housing site inventory, is not needed to meet the housing sites available to meet the city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers. And specific plan amendments that update maps and more.

“So, just in summary, we’re looking at a General Plan and Zoning Map amendment this evening. A Housing Element amendment, a Specific Plan amendment, and adoption of the Master Plan of Development,” added Gleason. “So this is the final action on this project. If they move forward with this proposed design, they can move forward to building permits.”

Both council members and community members brought up concerns with the safety of one of the proposed exits from the RV park.

“Currently, condition 41 says: a sight distance shall be provided for all proposed entries into the project site. All entries shall comply with adopted sight distance standards,” said Director of Public Works Nick DeBar. “What I would propose adding to it would be: developers shall perform all measures recommended by a licensed traffic engineer and approved by the city engineer. Such measures may include grading, tree trimming, vegetation removal, traffic signage, pavement markings, and other traffic safety enhancements (flashing signs, etc.) No driveway access shall be allowed onto Del Rio Road that fails to comply with adopted sight distance standards.”

The applicants agreed to the proposed changes to the language. 

The motion passed unanimously. 

The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m.