SLO County takes a dramatic new step to keep tourists away
Starting this weekend, San Luis Obispo County hotels will be required to limit their occupancy rates to 50% of capacity to prevent tourism to the area during the coronavirus outbreak.
The order will apply to hotels, motels and short-term rentals — including Airbnb and VRBO — all of which must cap the number of visitors staying at their properties.
Dr. Penny Borenstein, county Public Health officer, announced the order at a Friday press conference. It will take effect on Sunday, and officials will continue to review it every two weeks, she said.
“We’re not shutting down our hotels and motels. We very much want to work with that industry,” Borenstein said. “We have a very important and meaningful partnership with them, and we are working in concert to keep an eye on how this progresses. As more people may have essential reasons to come here, we’re allowing that growth to happen. Although we really do want to keep tamped down the amount of out-of-town visitors.”
County officials continue to push back against out-of-area tourism to the Central Coast — especially beach visitors from the San Joaquin Valley.
No hotel rooms for SLO County vacationers?
The county is spending up to $9,000 on a social media campaign urging Valley visitors not to come to the coast during the ongoing pandemic.
The order also says lodging facilities should not book rooms for visitors traveling for vacations or planning optional trips to visit friends or family.
“We think that (the order) will allow all of the essential workforce that needs to continue to come into our community,” Borenstein said. “Be it health personnel, be it construction projects, be it a number of areas in which that type of travel is still necessary.”
Officials are mostly counting on lodging owners to police themselves, although code enforcement inspections are planned, she said. Owners who choose to ignore the order could face fines or other penalties, Borenstein said.
“As with everything during this pandemic, we ask for partnership with the business owners,” she said. “We feel that we’ve had many a very productive conversation. There are always going to be outliers. Toward that end, we do plan on doing code enforcement checks of businesses.”
SLO County campgrounds open to locals
Starting on Monday, the county will also open its campgrounds to local residents only, Borenstein said.
Lopez Lake, Oceano Memorial Campground and Santa Margarita Lake will allow camping, but visitors will have to show IDs proving they live in the county.
Campgrounds will not be taking reservations, so spaces will be available only on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information, visit ReadySLO.org.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
