How will Cambria Christmas Market work this year? Here’s what you need to know
Cambria Christmas Market representatives and San Luis Obispo County officials have now hammered out most of the details about this year’s holiday event.
The market, held at the Cambria Pines Lodge, doesn’t have a county permit to operate as a public event this year.
The only people who will be allowed to stroll through the lavishly decorated and brilliantly lit market this holiday season are those who have dinner at the Cambria Pines Lodge and pay a cover charge, or people who stay overnight at the hotel.
The event is also presumably open to guests at the Sea Otter Inn and J. Patrick House in Cambria, which, like the lodge, are owned by Moonstone Hotel Properties.
That’s similar to the way the Christmas Market operated in 2020, when the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department put restrictions on large-scale events due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to emails from market manager Mike Arnold and Cambria Pines Lodge owner Dirk Winter, people who have already bought tickets online for this year’s Cambria Christmas Market will have to pony up for dinner or an overnight stay.
“We are working with them to book dinner or hotel packages instead,” Arnold wrote. “Luckily, we only had a small amount of tickets sold online before we turned them off.”
He added that “anyone that does not want to change their reservation will get a full refund.”
However, county planner Nicole Ellis said Friday by phone that talks between market organizers and county officials continue, something county Supervisor Bruce Gibson echoed Sunday in an email to The Tribune.
Sometime in mid-November, “We are going to meet again with Dirk,” she said. “We want to make sure we understand what his intentions are, and we all understand what can and cannot happen.”
Arnold, Ellis and Winter told The Tribune by separate emails that the lodge doesn’t need a permit if the event is only open to “hotel and restaurant guests only,” Ellis explained.
“Without an event permit,” she wrote, “the facility can offer seasonal light displays open to their hotel and restaurant guests only. Any live music or noise-inducing event shall comply with county noise standards. No ticketed public event separate from the ongoing hotel and restaurant operations can occur.”
Ellis continued that “operating a market with onsite vendor sales and charging the general public an entry fee is prohibited and is against the county land use ordinance without an approved event permit.”
Cambria Christmas Market faces permit issues
Based on traditional German Christmas markets, the Cambria Christmas Market traditionally features more than two million lights, elaborate holiday-themed displays and traditional German foods and drinks, as well as live music, an open-air market with vendors and a chance for kids to meet Santa Claus.
In comparison, this year’s event will be a stripped-down affair. It’s currently scheduled to start the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, and run through Jan. 1, 2021, Arnold wrote via email.
The restrictions are due in part to delays in the permitting process and a technical glitch in the process to get the event permitted in time.
According to county rules and codes, public events that don’t have permits aren’t allowed to operate.
The Cambria Christmas Market’s permit to operate expired in 2020.
Winter applied for a 10-year permit, but subsequently determined that San Luis Obispo County needed more information than he could provide in time for the permit to apply to the 2021 event. He then applied for an extension to the previous permit.
Then came a technical communications hiccup that caused a two-week postponement of the county Planning Commission hearing about the permit and subsequent appeals that challenged the commission’s eventual approval.
Critics speak out about holiday event
Critics who filed appeals against the Planning Commission’s approval of the Cambria Christmas Market’s permit have stated multiple reasons why they oppose the event.
The opponents allege that the market doesn’t comply with county regulations regarding illumination, signage, noise levels, water use and time limits on temporary events.
They’re also concerned about inadequate fencing and screening as well as having the market within 1,000 feet of residences and the need for nighttime traffic control at the busy intersection.
“If you don’t live on or near Lodge Hill (near the market), you don’t feel the impact of the mass crowds the lights and the noise and traffic and trash,” appellant Mark Hough posted on Facebook.
While some online commenters echoed the appellants’ worries about the market, others strongly support keeping the holiday event open.
“The market creates jobs and helps the local economy at a historically slow time of year,” business owner Renee Linn posted on Facebook. “I’m sorry to see it shot down.”
Ellis said by phone that there’s no room on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisor’s agenda for the appeal hearing to held before 2022, and that there’d be no reason to hold it after the event is over.
How will 2021 Christmas Market work?
According to Ellis, Cambria Pines Lodge is “a permitted hotel with an onsite restaurant, gift shop and a nearby retail nursery.”
“Without an event permit, the facility can offer seasonal light displays open to their hotel and restaurant guests only,” she explained. “Any live music or noise-inducing event shall comply with county noise standards. No ticketed public event separate from the ongoing hotel and restaurant operations can occur on the site.”
She added that the gift shop and nursery are “the only permitted retail venues at the lodge at this time.”
Arnold told The Tribune that this year’s Cambria Christmas Market will offer “live music and Santa Claus,” along with “festive drinks.” However, he said, this year’s event will have “no vendors, food booths or the train.”
The Market cover charge for Cambria Pines Lodge diners “ranges from $20 to $55 per person, depending on the night,” Arnold wrote, adding that there’s no cover charge for children ages 10 and under. Diners can choose from the restaurant’s holiday menu or a plated banquet featuring a German-themed menu.
“All hotel guests are able to walk the lights,” he said, whether they dine at the l;;odge or not.
Arnold said Cambria Nursery and Florist, located at 2801 Eton Road, will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the holiday season.
“Our gift shops are decorated for the holidays,” he added, “and we do feature a lot of local artists throughout the shops.”
Like the hotel, Cambria Nursery and Florist decorates lavishly during the market.
It was not clear as of Friday afternoon whether the nursery’s holiday displays will be open to the public at night, as they’ve been in the past. Nor was it evident whether Christmas Market organizers will be able to sell or serve food at the nursery.
That will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming meeting, Ellis said.
“There is no ticket or guest requirement to visit the nursery,” Arnold wrote, “but our parking is extremely limited, so guests are encouraged to visit us throughout the day.”
Parking has been a perpetual sticking point for the market, along with traffic impacts.
The Cambria Christmas Market discusses the availability of parking at Cambria Community Presbyterian Church, 2250 Yorkshire Drive, and the former Brambles restaurant, 4005 Burton Drive in Cambria.
The site says there will be complimentary shuttles from the lots, but pets won’t be allowed on those vehicles. Arnold added that “we will have parking attendants to help direct guests onsite.”
Should Christmas Market be open or closed to the public?
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This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
