Deal With State Will Allow Avila Beach to Rebuild

With the last hurdle cleared, beleaguered Avila Beach is finally ready to rebuild.

The Central Coast community has struggled for years to recover from the leak of thousands of gallons of oil from pipelines beneath the town, an environmental disaster that precipitated a massive cleanup and forced the demolition of Avila’s tiny business district.

Plans to rebuild came to a halt, though, after a new problem was discovered in the summer: a water shortage that meant the town could not meet fire safety requirements for the new structures.

But that too has now been solved.

In an agreement last week, Avila Beach representatives accepted the state Department of Fish and Game’s offer of a $500,000 grant and $147,000 more in a five-year, interest-free loan. The money will pay for a new water tank and new infrastructure to go with it.

“It’s wonderful news,” said John Wallace, general manager of the Avila Beach Community Services District, which provides water, sewer and street-lighting services to the unincorporated town. “It allows Avila to go ahead with the rebuilding process and let it get back to where it was, but with modern fire protection.”

Wallace said the district will start designing the 500,000-to-600,000 gallon water tank immediately and will finish building it by midyear. He said the agreement will allow property owners to get permits to start building.

One of the first permits granted is likely to be for a restaurant that will serve as a centerpiece for the new downtown, Wallace said.

State Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), whose office was involved in the negotiations, said he was pleased that the agreement had been reached.

“It’s a big success for the community,” O’Connell said. “Avila Beach has been through quite an ordeal, and I’m thrilled that everything can go ahead now.”

One reason for the delay had been a dispute over who should pay for the new water tank and line. At public meetings, many residents argued that the money should come from $6 million that Unocal--whose pipelines were responsible for the disaster--had paid to the Department of Fish and Game to help mitigate the environmental damage.

The agency initially said no, arguing that the money the department received was intended for certain purposes, including helping the area’s vegetation and wildlife recover from the disaster. It ultimately relented, under pressure from residents and San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Peg Pinard.

But the aftermath of that bruising battle remained evident last week.

“It’s been a long haul to get the state agencies to pay attention to what the community needed,” Pinard said Friday. “But certainly, we’re very glad that we can finally move forward.”