Housing has been a hot-button issue in Grover Beach for years, and lately, the focus has been on some taller buildings along West Grand Avenue. Now, a local group has started a petition to stop more of these multi-story complexes from being built.
Over the weekend, a group of Grover Beach locals, including former mayor Debbie Peterson, set up shop at Grover Heights Park. Their goal was to gather enough signatures to prevent the construction of more tall buildings in the city.
“Our petition is to limit building heights and to require 40% business within every structure within our commercial serving zone,” said Elizabeth Doukas.
Doukas believes buildings 66 feet or taller with minimal commercial space in the West Grand Avenue area are diminishing Grover Beach’s charm and hurting the city’s economy. Doukas said she and others who have signed the petition feel sidelined by the increase in housing that is going into what Doukas said is supposed to be the city’s business district.
“We've replaced viable businesses with luxury condos at prices that people locally cannot afford, cannot transition to," Doukas said. "It's just too much of the wrong product in the wrong place.”
Mayor Kassi Dee said a joint meeting between the planning commission and city council is set for March 31, where residents can express their opinions on housing in the city. She said they’ll discuss a new citizen’s initiative surrounding building heights.
“The city is committed to ensuring a fair and legally compliant process with the citizens' initiative, which would ultimately limit building heights in commercial and industrial zones and also require at least a 33% commercial space in mixed-use buildings," Dee said.
Dee said the petitioners have until August 7 to gather the 793 signatures needed from registered voters in the city. If that happens, the issue will then go before the city council, where one of three things will happen.
“Our council can either adopt the ordinance as is, we can order [it] to be placed on the 2026 ballot in November unchanged, or the council can request a report that'll show the impacts of the initiative in accordance with the election code," she said.
Doukas said they’re hoping for a ballot measure.
“We want to put the voice back to the people and let the people decide what they want for their city," Doukas said.
