The Department of Planning & Building was authorized to prepare the Los Osos Community Plan (LOCP) on December 11, 2012. The LOCP is part of the County’s General Plan and is not included in the County’s Local Coastal Program. The LOCP provides a greater level of specificity for the community of Los Osos 

Excerpt from Chapter 1.1 Purpose of the LOCP:

“The purpose of this [LOCP] is to establish a vision for the future of Los Osos that will guide growth and development over the next 20 years…This plan is intended to be the community’s plan…Continued community involvement is needed to achieve the vision.”
 

Board of Supervisors Adopted Los Osos Community Plan (October 2024), including the California Coastal Commission’s suggested modifications: 

• Los Osos Community Plan
• Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Los Osos Community Plan

Background

The original Estero Area Plan was certified by the Coastal Commission in 1988, and an update began in 1996. The Estero Area Plan encompasses Los Osos, Cayucos, and the rural area (of Estero) entirely within the Coastal Zone. On November 2, 2004, the Board of Supervisors approved the Estero Area Plan update for submittal to the California Coastal Commission. The update and associated amendments were submitted to the Coastal Commission at the end of December 2004 as part of Local Coastal Program Amendment No. 2-04.
Due to the outstanding issues in Los Osos at that time (mid 2000’s), specifically lack of an approved communitywide Habitat Conservation Plan for Los Osos to deal with widespread environmentally sensitive habitat, a projected build-out in line with groundwater supply, uncertainty about a community-wide sewer system, the Los Osos portion of the Estero Area Plan update was removed in 2006. The Estero Area Plan was later certified by the Coastal Commission in 2009 with updates to the parts dealing with Cayucos and the rural areas, but without any updates for the Los Osos urban area. Those updates were addressed through the Los Osos Community Plan (adopted by the Board of Supervisors October 2024) and amendments to the Estero Area Plan (adopted by the Board of Supervisors October 2024) are once again underway as part of the Los Osos Community Plan.

The Los Osos Community Plan and amendments to the Estero Area Plan must be certified by the California Coastal Commission before they can take effect – certification is anticipated in December 2024.