Nipomo is a haven for wealthy retirees. How about more housing for local workers?

For a county starved for housing — especially housing for low- and middle-income families — Dana Reserve is a perfect match.

The development proposed west of Highway 101 in Nipomo would include around 1,290 homes — including subsidized rental apartments, moderately priced townhomes and some “affordable-by-design” starter homes.

There would be some larger, upscale homes as well, in the pricey $800,000-and-up range. Most units, though, would range from $475,000 to $675,000, according to a recent estimate provided by the applicant — not bad when you consider SLO County’s median housing price in June was $900,000.

Dana Reserve is the first mega-housing development in south San Luis Obispo County to specifically target working families of all income levels.

There would be a daycare center, a large public park, a grocery store and a site for a long-planned Cuesta College satellite campus.

Locals would be given priority, as would applicants able to show they’ll be able to reduce vehicle trips traveled by moving to the development.

“We have a developer putting his heart and soul into getting the best project for our community,” Tony Coscia, project manager with an Arroyo Grande engineering firm, said at a recent public meeting. (Coscia is not associated with Nipomo Reserve.)

But hold on. As with any project — especially one of this size — there is dissension.

Most has centered on the loss of oak woodland; more than 3,000 mature oak trees would be cut down, though property owner/applicant Nick Tompkins has offered to plant 1,500 replacements and to permanently preserve a nearby parcel with as many as 14,000 oak trees.

That’s not enough to appease opponents who say it will take generations for the newly planted trees to mature. They also point out that the area to be conserved isn’t threatened.

“It’s too steep to build on and that is simply not acceptable mitigation for the removal of the oak woodlands,” said Melissa Mooney, president of the SLO County chapter of the Native Plant Society.

She spoke at a recent county Planning Commission workshop that focused on the project’s Environmental Impact Report currently out for review. Comments are due on Monday.

‘Why do we need all these houses?’

It’s more than the loss of trees that has nearby residents upset. They worry about increased noise and traffic, along with the strain on schools and other public services.

Water hasn’t been as much of an issue; the project will be served by the Nipomo Community Services District, which is contractually obligated to buy water from Santa Maria whether it needs it or not. The addition of customers is expected to benefit the district, inasmuch as it will prevent water bills from rising significantly and will reduce sewer bills.

Still, opponents are skeptical about the dependability of that water supply in times of severe drought. And they aren’t at all happy about having so many new houses in their neighborhood of ranch-style homes on large lots.

“We don’t want to live in a city,” one speaker told the Planning Commission. “We really enjoy living in a quiet residential area where we have the benefit of hearing our owls at night, our coyotes howling. Why do we need all this housing?”

Locals priced out of Nipomo

If county planners, along with elected officials, had more foresight 20, 30, even 40 years ago, we might not be in the predicament we face today, with the state of California mandating that SLO County plan for 10,810 additional homes by 2028; 4,335 must be for very low- and low-income households.

Instead, in South County, officials allowed — even encouraged — upscale housing that was then marketed to retirees interested in moving to the Central Coast. Three golf course communities — Black Lake, Cypress Ridge and Trilogy — were built, each one more elaborate than the last, in addition to smaller subdividisions with homes on large lots.

Today, Nipomo — at one time one of the county’s most reasonable housing markets — no longer has many options for low-to-middle-income households. Of the 47 houses recently listed on Zillow, 27 were priced at over $1 million. Only seven were below $700,000.

Is there room for compromise?

To be fair, most project opponents seem resigned to the idea that some amount of development on the site is inevitable. But they aren’t ready to accept it as is.

Can’t the lot sizes be a little larger, they ask?

Can’t the densest areas be relocated away from my neighborhood?

What about building on just a portion?

How about fewer homes?

Tompkins — a Central Coast native who’s been involved both in farming and property development — says it’s possible to make changes, but that could come at the expense of losing some of the “baked-in amenities” that set the project apart.

Here are some of those benefits that will come with project:

• Donation of four acres to People’s Self Help Housing for 75-85 subsidized apartment units. (Rent will be based on tenants’ incomes.)

• Payment of $600,000 in affordable housing fees

• Donation of improved sites for a daycare center and a Cuesta College South County Center

• The set aside of a location for a fire station

• Installation a high-speed fiber network

• Parks and several miles of trails for walking, biking and horse riding

Would it be preferable if more oak trees could be preserved?

Of course, and if there is way to do that while staying true to the goal of the project — which is to provide a range of housing types at prices considerably less than the $1 million that is fast becoming the benchmark here — of course that should be pursued.

But what we don’t need is more of what we already have: fancy homes on big lots that only the wealthy can afford. South County has an abundance of luxury homes attractive to city dwellers looking to retire here — just look on Zillow.

It’s time the county, as well as the home building industry, focused on housing the working families already here in San Luis Obispo County.