Letter: Focus on hospitality job growth only will negatively impact city’s future
To the editor, 
–Thank you Mr. Mckinley for the article. I appreciate your explanations on water availability etc. however how do we as a city; expect to control “actual” densities. “Actual” Densities mean how do we as a city manage how many people per unit of housing? There are some communities not too far from here where there are actually 10 to 20 people living in 2 bedroom apartments especially during the harvest. How do we deal with those impacts when we are creating “Non” head of household jobs, “by the hundreds,” as this city continues down the path to a hospitality and tourism economy?
This one-legged local economy “almost exclusively” driven by the Hotel Industry and Restaurant industry” could and is creating a situation in the city which is going to drive more and more people into more density in current and future housing units because of simple economics. I would like to remind Mr. Mckinley that the average income for many families in North County is sometimes half of what city, county and state employees earn. The number of 44,000 population “build out” numbers is a pipe dream and will probably be significantly higher. I know the city will counter with we have “Rules” against this overcrowding. “Good Luck” enforcing that!
As I have said before this city must take a deep breath and address the future employment situation for people already here. Water, roads and all the infrastructure needs of this city should be addressed first before we even begin to look at new development. We have not done this since this most recent “Gold Rush” came on us in earnest. As I write this rebuttal these changes are happening very quickly.
This city is still operating on a city master plan developed many years ago and has not considered new issues and the new realities here in North County and Paso Robles. The Beechwood development is a great example of what I am speaking to. This development started as a project of fewer than 600 units and now “could” be as large as 915 total units! I could go on but I will leave the reader with this. You cannot expect a successful upwardly mobile population when you have a one-legged economy. Hospitality is great but the results may be a community that is got, “the haves” and the “have not’s.” Building a local economy such as this will have a very “Negative” impact for everyone in our city!
Michael Rivera
Paso Robles
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