Atascadero’s development ‘plan’ is full of failed ideas

Only in Atascadero would a deliberate increase in traffic congestion be considered development planning. Our city’s latest efforts to prevent “urban sprawl” are going to deliberately create one of its most undesirable characteristics — traffic congestion.

Atascadero, adorned with glorious signage, flowerpots, vacant lots, abandoned buildings and a new Bridge-To-Nowhere, is the utopian creation of decades of master planning. These master planners have done everything to promote and advertise a capacious downtown without actually ever allowing one to happen.

Guided by fear of the big city and a 100-year-old vision conceived in tents, the Atascadero city government seems stuck in the mud; a roundabout of recycled failed ideas. In this heavily controlled environment, property redevelopers are told to “take a number” and wait while buildings’ paint colors, business signs and murals are meticulously screened.

Is it ironic that projects bolstered by our local politicians end up abandoned, half-completed, for years, and then once completed the businesses fail?

Meanwhile, in a nearby city that did eventually allow the installation of a Wal-Mart, there is a bustle of social activity and tourism, fine dining, wine tasting, shopping and art. It’s like an E.G. Lewis vision of a colony of artisans.

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This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Atascadero’s development ‘plan’ is full of failed ideas."