Guadalupe’s making progress, y’all!
It’s one step closer to hosting a local farmers market and to reinvigorating its downtown with the Royal Theater renovation.
Wow. It’s like hard work and patience—a lot of patience—pay off!
And that patience needs to continue to stretch, because the theater hasn’t quite raised all the money it needs to complete the refurbishment yet and the Cosecha Guadalupe Farmers Market isn’t slated to start until February (As long as everything goes according to plan, which, does it ever?).
The city opted to waive rental fees for LeRoy Park to get the market up and running but the market isn’t allowed to use city electricity or water or trash cans! Because that would cost the city money.
What about the bathrooms? Well, the Guadalupe City Council didn’t go over that at its Nov. 25 meeting, when council members seemed more concerned about overflowing trash cans than overflowing toilets.
But maybe the park’s bathrooms will just be open on Sundays when the market’s running. And maybe market patrons don’t get to flush or wash their hands—because that would be using water!
Mayor Ariston Julian was champing at the bit to get this market open!
“I think it’s a great idea, and a long time coming, so let’s get it going,” he said at the meeting.
Let’s get it going indeed. It’s about time that idea bore fruit. Get it?
The theater project is finally going! And the fruits of that labor are yet to come.
But the city inked an almost $10 million contract to get the Royal Theater built with caveats to do more if it can raise the remaining funding it needs to fully realize its vision.
Falling about $3 million short, thanks to a slew of hiccups, the city finally decided to start a capital campaign. But, the capital campaign committee has also had some hiccups, and we’re still waiting to hear how the city will decide to square that one away.
Meanwhile, in Lompoc, cultural progress comes in the form of a city-run RV campground.
What started as a nine-space RV campground in River Park will shortly have 35 sites available for those who want to go RVing! And some of those spaces will also be available to long-term tenants.
Is it just me or is Lompoc ahead of the game when it comes to providing options for those who are either having trouble in the cramped housing market or in the alternative housing market?
The only issue is that it does sound expensive. At $325 week, long-termers would be in for about $1,300 a month! I guess that’s less than the average rent for a studio apartment, and there’s a caveat: Priority will be given to those who can prove they have a local job.
Touché. There will be no freeloading, no-job-having houseless folks in this RV park—unless there are spaces available. But still, it’s kind of cool. And as a bonus, it’s generating revenue for the city and providing relatively low-cost accommodations for travelers at $50 per site per night—as long as you already have a pop-up trailer camper, RV, fifth wheel, or camper van.
The canary is in the market for a Sprinter van. Send opportunities to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 4 – Dec 11, 2025.