If you drive along Tefft Street in Nipomo, you’ll see bare medians. But if you look close enough, a few poppies are blooming out of the dirt. They are what’s left of one man’s efforts to beautify the city before local law enforcement stepped in.
For four years, lifelong Central Coast resident Mike Conrow has been planting and watering poppies in the medians along Tefft Street in Nipomo.
His daughter Laura said he started because he wanted his drive home to look nicer.
"He noticed the dividers down Tefft looked not as nice as they could, and he had this vision that they would be just all orange when he drove home from work every day," Laura said.
A post on Facebook showing Mike working on the medians drew more than 100 comments. Laura said her dad's efforts have inspired others.
"People are really excited to help their community," she said. "I think that just shines a light on the fact that we could do more as a community."
San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said the unfinished medians have consistently bothered Nipomo residents.
"It's been years of frustration for community members wanting to see the median look good," Paulding said.
Earlier this year, Mike slowed his trips to the medians after a hospitalization. Then came a visit from the California Highway Patrol.
"There was a day when my dad was out in the middle of the street, and it was a high traffic time," Laura said. "The highway patrol stopped him and said, 'Sorry, you can't be out here or you'll get ticketed if you don't have a license.'"
According to the San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department, working on a median without a permit is illegal. Laura said Mike's application was not approved.
"It really was something that he took a lot of pride in," she said. "So it definitely, it's been hard for him to drive by but I know he's trying to do what he can, where he can."
Mike isn't the only one working to improve the medians. The Nipomo Rotary Club recently submitted a proposal to landscape the space — including wood chips, an irrigation system, and new vegetation.
Paulding said if the Rotary Club's plan doesn't move forward, fixing the medians will be part of the updated Nipomo Community Plan.
"One of my goals is to make sure that fixing the Tefft medians once and for all was identified as a goal because in the workshops that we had, many community members raised that as a concern," he said.
