From:Office Mgr
To:City Council
Cc:Jorge Garcia; Ed Waage; Mary Ann Reiss; Marcia Guthrie; Stacy Inman; Scott Newton; Office Mgr; Gary Grossman
Subject:Agenda Item 9.1 08-05-2025-Report Coastal Mitigation Payment 121 Indio Date:Monday, August 4, 2025 3:20:37 PM
Attachments:CCC Fee-121 Indio_Agenda 9.1.docx
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Dear Mayor Waage, Honorable Council Members, and City Manager:
Please see letter attached for Agenda Item 9.1-Report Coastal Mitigation Payment for 121 Indio for tomorrow’s agenda.
Thanks,
Gary Grossman
August 4, 2025
Re: Agenda 9.1 Report Coastal Mitigation Payment 2025.08.05
Dear Mayor Waage, Honorable Council Members, and City Manager:
I'd like to take a moment to explain the large sum of money I have provided to the city.
The $522,000 is the product of a simple decision I made. Continue suit with the CCC over their imposition of a 1.3m mitigation fee (assessed with their approval for bluff protection work on my property) or provide a sum (commensurate with projected legal fees) to benefit the city of Pismo instead.
The Supreme Court, in its Nollan and Dolan decisions makes clear that a mitigation fee must be in proportion to work applied for. The fee required by the CCC did not meet this standard. For perspective, the mitigation fee assessed in 2003 was $10,000 for nearly 200 feet of a full seawall. The current $1.3m fee is for about 60 feet for additional partial bluff protection. While I believe my suit would prevail, I also understood it would likely cost about $500,000 for attorney and consultant fees to resolve the matter. Thus, I proposed a settlement whereas I would provide this sum to the city to benefit its local coastal parks and amenities. This settlement has been approved to both parties' satisfaction.
This money should not be viewed as a precedent or as a future income generator for the city. It is what it is. A choice not to waste valuable dollars on attorney's fees and instead provide a positive benefit to the city I call home and love very much.
I am not asking for recognition. It gives me personal satisfaction to know this money will be well spent. I hope the council will personally provide direction to staff regarding enhancements to our coastal parks and amenities as intended. I also hope that you will instruct staff not to consider this a precedent to collect ill-gotten gains from citizens who cannot afford to be as charitable. Nollan and Dolan are straightforward. The CCC is not so much. It is therefore a moral imperative each council and mayor must decide: Is this money an act of charitable pragmatism or a city entitlement. I hope you do not consider it an entitlement.
In conclusion, I am very pleased to know that my decision will greatly benefit our city. But I sincerely hope you and staff do not think of this as an opportunity to collude with the CCC to encourage their disheartening tactics as a means to generate city revenue.
Thank you and best wishes to you all.
Gary Grossman