Creekside Junction is one step closer to being built in Arroyo Grande after the Planning Commission approved its plans. The complex will feature 92 new units, with 14 units reserved for very low-income residents.
Laura Nelson is a Pismo Beach resident who lives close to the proposed location at the corner of Oak Park Boulevard and James Way.
“We're running low on housing in California," Nelson said. "The prices are going so high. They want to put more in here, and by having an apartment complex, you can get more people in less space.”
The complex is set to be built within the Oak Park Professional Plaza, where three businesses share what they said is a limited amount of parking.
“The housing is needed for the city, so we're happy for the city to be producing housing, but it needs to have a legitimate amount of parking for it," said Catherine Judge, Curl Fitness General Manager.
One top concern from the Planning Commission was long-term parking and the area surrounding the proposed site is packed with cars during the day.
“Oak Park is a major thoroughfare," Nelson said. "James Way is a major street, and there's no parking on-street number one, so where are these extra cars going to go?”
Nelson frequents Curl Fitness weekly. She said parking spaces in the morning and afternoon are already hard to come by.
Mary Partin works at NanoKnee and worries about the impact on the businesses themselves.
"It's going to be detrimental to our businesses, extremely detrimental to our businesses," Partin said. "It is extremely difficult to get in to see a doctor, and you're driving more doctors and more practices out.”
Arroyo Grande Planning Commission Community Development Director Brian Pedrotti told KSBY News, “They [the planning commission] ultimately found that the project, including the 98 parking spaces provided, met all of the findings of both the Arroyo Grande Municipal Code and the State’s Assembly Bill 130.”
RRM Design Group, which represented the development at the planning commission meeting, declined an interview.
Partin and other businesses near the proposed site said they are working to appeal the project. Should the appeal be filed within the 10-day appeal period, the city council will need to approve the project.
