First Baptist Church bringing a ‘Here We Come-A-Caroling,’ a new community event, to City Park 

PASO ROBLES — After reaching an agreement with the State of California, the City of Paso Robles will be moving forward with the sale of a portion of Pioneer Park to the 16th District Agricultural Association (DAA).

Since 2015, the City and DAA have been working to finalize the sale. However, the Department of General Services (DSG) came back to the city saying the agreement could not be approved due to non-substantive or administrative issues that needed to be addressed. 

The sale of a portion of the park was a popular topic for the public during the July 19 City Council meeting. The proposed sale is for 5.6 acres of the park which is planned to be used by DAA for the California Mid-State Fair. 

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After negotiations between DGS, the city, and DAA, an agreement was reached and the city can now move forward with the sale. Once all paperwork is filed and signed with the state, the sale of the park will be brought back to council for the first set of actions in December, and the sale be finalized early in 2023.

Two public hearings were held at the Tuesday night meeting. 

The first was an introduction to modifying Municipal Code Section 11.12.030, which requires frontage improvements like curb, gutter, sidewalk, and curb ramps. The proposed changed ordinance would exempt “projects that add less than 50 percent of the existing floor space and raise the frontage improvement valuation trigger from $47,000 to $75,000.”

The purpose of the amended ordinance is to “positively impact housing affordability, streamline and clarify the Code, and provide relief for projects damaged by fire or natural disaster,” according to the staff’s report. 

The second public hearing was an amendment to a general plan and conditional use permit to allow the expansion of a storage yard for Paso Robles Tank on 26th Street. Council approved all four resolutions relating to permits for Paso Robles Tank’s property.

Council later received the quarterly financial report. According to staff’s report, the city ended the fiscal year with with General Fund revenues totaling $52.9 million, a 1.41 percent increase when compared to FY 2020-21. However, the fund is about $430,000 less than what was projected during the budget process. 

Staff estimates three reasons for the change in revenues: 

  1. Related to fair-market value adjustment on City investments (this had a $1.5 million adverse impact on the general fund revenues)
  2. Tourism-related activity continues to be robust (actual revenues came in about $920,000 more than anticipated)
  3. Sales tax revenues continue to exceed projections (by approximately $817,000).

You can find the entire financial report here prcity.com/DocumentCenter/View/35288/November-1-2022-City-Council-Meeting-Agenda-Item-14PDF

The city later approved a new event coming to the City Park. The First Baptist Church is bringing a “Here We Come-A-Caroling,” a new community event, to City Park on Friday, Dec. 16, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event brings a 40-person choir and two barbershop quartets to the park gazebo, with hot chocolate and cookies provided.

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 6:30 p.m.