San Luis Obispo County Creates New Sustainable Tourism Model by Allowing Farms, Wineries, and Other Rural Businesses to Host Low Impact RV Camping
February 08 2023 - 9:09PM
Business Wire
The resolution, championed by private landowners,
agriculturalists, and local lawmakers creates fresh revenue streams
for vintners, farmers, and ranchers.
Today, Hipcamp announced that San Luis Obispo County’s Board of
Supervisors have approved a resolution to their rural recreation
and camping land use code ordinance that creates an accessible,
clear, and cost-effective path for certain rural businesses to host
limited and low-impact recreational vehicle camping. With this
resolution, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors opened
up new economic opportunities for local wineries, farmers, and
ranchers.
"As a family-owned farm, vineyard, and winery, we are always
looking for additional revenue streams to support our way of life,”
said Gelert Hart, owner of AmByth Estate. “It makes sense for
families and businesses like ours to offer rural camping so long as
it's safe and well-regulated, and I'm glad to see the Board of
Supervisors coming around on this issue. Not only does this new
resolution create more opportunities for families like mine, it
also allows campers and visitors to experience the magic of the way
we live and small farms in general. Of course we'd like to be able
to charge directly for camping, but we're excited about this first
step."
Bill McCall, a property owner in northwest Paso Robles, had this
to say about the resolution: “I'm glad to see our Board of
Supervisors working together as a bipartisan team to listen to
rural people. I really appreciate their work on this resolution
which will definitely improve the lives of rural families like
mine.”
“San Luis Obispo County is a hot spot for tourism on the
California coast, but oftentimes rural landowners and businesses
aren’t able to benefit from the tourism economy the way Main Street
businesses do,” said Hipcamp Government and Community Relations
Senior Manager Michal Rosenoer. “We applaud the SLO County Board of
Supervisors for listening to the public and creating ways to spread
out the benefits of tourism to rural businesses that could really
use a boost right now.
This new resolution outlines clear and thoughtful opportunities
for businesses including certain wineries, olive oil producers,
farms, and ranches to host a limited number of overnight RV campers
on their properties in a way that is safe for the community, good
for the environment, and supportive of the county’s rural economic
development goals.”
Hipcamp has been partnering closely with farmers, ranchers, and
private landowners across the county to advocate for increased
opportunities for low impact camping. Hipcamp looks forward to
partnering with other member organizations and local lawmakers to
continue to promote agritourism and sustainable tourism
opportunities for private landowners in San Luis Obispo County.
About Hipcamp
Founded in 2013, Hipcamp is the world’s largest provider of
outdoor stays. It gives a growing community of good-natured people
the opportunity to list, discover, and book unique outdoor
experiences. By connecting people with the land and each other,
Hipcamp works to support the planet and protect biodiversity. The
fully remote company operates in Australia, the United States,
Canada, and the U.K., and to date has helped people spend more than
7 million nights under the stars. When listing on Hipcamp, farmers,
ranchers, vintners, and other landowners generate new revenue
streams to conserve their land and keep it wild.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230208006021/en/
Lydia Davey for Hipcamp, press@hipcamp.com