As 2015 begins, Lompoc has many new businesses and recreational projects in the planning process that will open in 2015 and 2016. These new businesses follow a number of small and large businesses that opened in 2012, 2013, and 2014, which brought expanded shopping choices and more than 1,200 new jobs to Lompoc. The new businesses that opened include Pacific Coast RV, Marshals, Grocery Outlet, Dollar General, Fallas, Rocket Town Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, DenMat, Papa John’s Pizza, Applebee’s, a Walmart expansion, and many small businesses.
In January 2015, Wine Country Airlines will begin commuter service to Long Beach and Bakersfield at affordable prices with additional destinations being reviewed. Renovations to the Lompoc Airport terminal are nearing completion now. Also opening at the airport is Barnstormers Aero Service, offering pilot training, aerial tours, and aerobatic flight training.
Opening this month is the Nikka Fish Enterprise Fish and Steak House at 821 North H St. in the former Red Zone sports bar location. The restaurant will feature fresh fish with steaks and sell fresh fish to cook at home. Also opening is a yet-to-be-announced retail store with the building now undergoing remodeling at the corner of Laurel and H streets.
Also in January, the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District, which began receiving a 2 percent bed tax authorized by the City Council through 2014, is beginning its $200,000 advertising campaign to bring more visitors to Lompoc in 2015. This will not only benefit the hotels and motels, but the restaurants, gas stations, and retail stores of Lompoc and provide additional revenue for city services.
Escrow closed on the long vacant auto dealership buildings at Chestnut and H Street in the third quarter of 2014. In January, Solvang Brewing is presenting its stunning remodel of the old buildings to the Planning Commission for approval. This anxiously anticipated restaurant and micro brewery will provide an exciting new indoor and outdoor dining venue in Lompoc for locals and visitors alike. A third new restaurant is in design and expected to be completed in the first quarter also.
In February, the River Bend Bike Skills Park, constructed by the Bike Skills Committee of the Lompoc Valley Parks Recreation and Pool Foundation as a joint venture with the city of Lompoc, is scheduled to open. In addition to the three BMX tracks, there is a mountain bike track and a walking loop for parents. This four-track complex with a large freestyle area will be the state-of-the-art track complex in Central California and comparable to the best tracks in the West.
In March, the public compressed natural gas fueling station being constructed by the Lompoc Unified School District with a state grant and district funds will open on east Central Avenue. Compressed natural gas sells around the $2 per gallon equivalent to gasoline and emits about 45 percent less greenhouse gasses. Also by March, environmental review should begin for the Lompoc Valley Motorsports Park. The Motorsports Park also includes four off-road vehicle areas. The park will be constructed as a joint venture by the Motorsports Committee of the Lompoc Valley Parks and Recreation and Pool Foundation and the city of Lompoc. It will be constructed with an almost $1 million grant from the Off Road Vehicle Division of California State Parks, volunteer labor, and donated materials. The park will also include a 1/8-mile drag strip for local racers constructed with donated funds and materials by volunteers. Of the many projects I have worked on as mayor, this is perhaps the most important, as it will save countless young lives lost to street racing in future years. As a Lompoc towing company owner for more than 25 years, I have seen and still remember the deaths of too many young people in street racing in the Lompoc Valley.
By July, the new 40-acre commercial and industrial park currently going through environmental and design review should be ready to break ground. The 12 parcels in the project can accommodate more than 800,000 square feet of building, which—depending on the type of businesses that occupy the spaces—will employ from 700 to 3,000 workers. One of the core goals of my economic development efforts in the last four years has been to bring jobs to Lompoc for the thousands of commuters who leave Lompoc each day for the South Coast, Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa Maria. Lompoc’s vitality is sapped by this loss of revenue for our business and the time commuters lose with their families and participating in community events and nonprofit groups. I reached out to the owners of the industrial park property in May of 2012, and we began the three-year process to make the commercial industrial park a reality.
I am working with several other businesses that plan to open in 2015 but are not yet ready to make an announcement.
In 2016, two new national chain restaurants that have begun the review process should be constructed and open. Also in mid 2016, the new 155-room Hilton Garden Inn at Barton and H streets should be completed. Building plans have been submitted and the project is moving to the Planning Commission for reapproval. Originally approved in 2007, the project was canceled during the economic downturn of 2008 and the approval later expired. This will be a four-star hotel.
Also coming in late 2016 will be the 110-room Ayres Hotel next to the Wine Ghetto along Highway 246 at the Santa Ynez River. I have worked with all involved to move the project forward for two years, which culminated with City Council approval of a shared sewer line project paid for by the hotel and three neighboring parcels. This upscale hotel will take Lompoc to the next level in the expanding the wine industry. Lompoc has expanded over the last four years to 32 wineries with more on the way.
As a result of my 60-hour work weeks over the last four years as mayor, I am especially proud of all the businesses that I have worked with to open in Lompoc and all that I have worked with that will be opening. Rest assured that I will be working with each of these businesses until they are open to help them through the process in partnership with our business friendly city staff and our City Council. I am certain the council will continue to make economic development and jobs the city’s No. 1 priority.
The recent election cycle was tainted by many accusations. The greatest accusation was an anonymous complaint in June of a Brown Act violation filed with the District Attorney’s office and then leaked to the media. The complaint focused on testimony two council members and I gave in support of two soccer fields and a paintball field outside the city of Lompoc next to River Park, the County Road Yard, and the Bridge House homeless shelter before the county’s Board of Supervisors. The second part of the complaint involved a statement that the City Council approved regarding the project. The procedures followed and even the words I spoke when the council approved the statement in open session were reviewed by the city attorney in advance of the council meeting. In July, the district attorney interviewed me and submitted four questions to the city attorney, to which he promptly responded. We expected a prompt decision. The district attorney closed the inquiry with a letter dated Nov. 14, 2014, stating that the district attorney could not conclude with certainty that the Lompoc City Council violated the Brown Act. The D.A. went on to remind the council that discussion regarding matters within the City Council’s jurisdiction must be held in an open meeting. As the testimony by the three of us was before the Board of Supervisors where we clearly had no vote, decision-making ability, or influence (as they voted three to two against what we were speaking in favor of), the interpretation that the Brown Act even applies to our testimony is open to question. Because of the ongoing investigation, I was never able to discuss the issue during the election, on advice of legal council, to protect the city and myself.
I believe it is a sad commentary on democracy today that accusations of this type are used as “guilty until proven innocent” in election campaigns rather than focusing on real issues and real results.
There are several groups of people that have focused for years on stifling any progress in Lompoc. One group opposes all growth and talks about urban sprawl and infill even though, according to a San Francisco Chronicle article, Lompoc is the seventh most compact city in the United States on a people-per-square-mile basis. The other group just wants Lompoc to stay the same. The results of these group’s efforts for the last 30 years have been many new houses and no new jobs, which has dramatically expanded the number of commuters since 1985.
Going forward in 2015, I am confident the Lompoc City Council will lead the city staff in bringing businesses and jobs to Lompoc. I will continue to volunteer my time, as I have for the last four years, to bring businesses, jobs, prosperity, and increased recreational opportunities to Lompoc.
John H. Linn lives in Lompoc. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 15-22, 2015.
