New mixed-use development with ocean views planned for this SLO County city
An ongoing clash between Grover Beach residents opposed to multi-story buildings and developers looking to take advantage of high-density building laws continued at the Planning Commission this week with the introduction of a new mixed-use townhome development.
At Tuesday’s meeting, developers proposed a 28-unit ocean-view project at 359 Front St. that includes some commercial space on the ground floor. The property is bordered by the railroad and Highway 1 to the west.
While no action on the project was taken, as applicant Brad Foote and developer Coastal Community Builders are still in the pre-application process, many residents in attendance chose to use the meeting as a continued referendum on multi-story development.
As has been the case with many recent city meetings on new developments on the western end of Grover Beach — many of which are Coastal Community Builders projects — the development was vocally opposed by the majority of people in attendance, spearheaded by former Mayor Debbie Peterson.
“What I’d like to ask all of you is to consider your legacy,” Peterson said during public comment. “Do you want to be the Planning Commission that destroyed Grover Beach and the vision of its people?”
What will new project entail?
The new development, dubbed the Solstice project, is planned as three stories high and just under 40 feet in height, counting the elevator shaft extension on the roof, according to the staff report.
Sitting on a 1.44-acre lot, the project occupies far less of its parcel — around 41% of the allowed 60% — than some of the other Coastal Community Builders projects on West Grand Avenue, which have been criticized for their substantial lot coverage and limited on-site parking.
The land is designated as a visitor-serving mixed-use lot under the General Plan and is surrounded by a mix of commercial uses to the north, Coastal Community Builders’ Trinity project to the south and residential housing to the east.
Instead of one large structure, the plan by RRM Design Group breaks the development up across half a dozen buildings, of which four are strictly for the project’s 28 three-bedroom townhomes, each equipped with a two-car garage and on-site parking lots, according to the staff report.
The other two structures, a pair of three-story mixed-use buildings, each feature around 1,557 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and four two-bedroom condos on the second and third floors, according to the staff report.
RRM Design principal Scott Martin, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the developer tried to incorporate some of the community’s feedback by providing more parking on-site — a total of 99 spaces broken down into 15 surface spaces, 56 tandem garages and 28 commercial-serving on-street spaces.
Martin presented several design motifs for the Planning Commission’s review, including a Spanish-influenced design, a “big beach cottage” look, and three variations of mixed materials that are closer to Coastal Community Builders’ existing projects on West Grand Avenue.
“I think anybody in this room would have a hard time saying what is the quintessential Grover Beach,” Martin said. “As an architect, it’s something I care about, whether you think I do or not — it matters.”
“This is also my community of three decades-plus,” he continued. “This is my backyard, and I really do want something of great quality.”
Resident outrage continues to dominate meetings
Peterson characterized the residents’ apparent anger as a response to choices by developers and the city to push developments that don’t fit with what longtime residents want in their community.
“Chairman and Planning Commission, I would like to speak on behalf of the folks here and say that this is not about fear of change,” Peterson said. “This is about asking you to cooperate with the community’s vision that they put in place that suddenly has been yanked away from them.”
“We’re not saying we don’t want mixed use — we’re not saying we don’t even want two or three stories, in some cases, there’s four,” she continued. “What we’re saying is we’d like to be heard and listened to.”
Many of the residents who agreed with Peterson cited a similar set of concerns, that the city has not done enough to listen to residents, that the project detracts from Grover Beach’s historical look, that its height destroys sunset views, and that it’s located on near a railroad on land some claimed is still tainted with oil or tar balls, as was the case with the nearby Trinity project.
Others said they distrusted Coastal Community Builders because of its involvement in other developments they opposed, and they expressed concerns over its building quality, which is currently the subject of a lawsuit related to home defects in the San Luis Ranch development.
Not everyone who spoke about the project were opposed to its design or intended purpose.
Krista Jeffries was one of several residents and business leaders who said the new development was needed, and she criticized the way that a vocal minority of residents have attempted to steer discussion around new housing.
“Frankly, I don’t think it’s a very good exercise of democracy for the city to ask me who should come behind me, since I’ve already got mine,” Jeffries said during public comment. “I heard some comments tonight — ‘I retired here because this is the way I wanted to live, the way Grover was 20 years ago’ — well, it must be really nice to think about how much better your retirement would be if other people didn’t live here, when you have a house that you own outright.”
Susanna Brown, a data scientist and chair of the South County Chambers of Commerce, said she was supportive of the project, and has voiced support for similar projects over the past couple years.
She said South County has a jobs and housing imbalance that is served best by developments that look to address both issues.
“I know not a lot of people here are (supportive of the project), but I wanted to explain there are a lot more people than just in this room,” Brown said. “The Solstice mixed-use project at 359 Front St. from both the data and business side, is exactly the kind of smart infill project that the General Plan envisions here.”
Brown was joined in her support by Home Builders Association of the Central Coast executive director Jocelyn Brennan, who said that Grover Beach is experiencing rapid development as a result of the extended period of housing production stagnancy that predated more recent housing reforms that emphasize higher density.
“State law now makes it clear that cities are not free to simply deny housing because it’s controversial or unpopular,” Brennan said. “Local discussion is still very important, but it must be balanced with the reality that housing production is no longer optional.”
“The state has limited what cities can deny precisely because resistance to housing is one of the reasons we are in the crisis to begin with,” she continued. “Grover Beach has a choice: The city can be part of the solution, or it can preserve the condition that helped create the problem.”
What’s next for Solstice project?
As the Solstice project is still in the pre-application stage, the Planning Commission took no action on its approval and decided to continue discussion of the project at a later meeting.
Once those discussions are finished, an approval hearing for the project will be held by the Planning Commission at a future date.
This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
