San Luis Obispo County Creates New Sustainable Tourism Model by Allowing Farms, Wineries, and Other Rural Businesses to Host Low Impact RV Camping

The resolution, championed by private landowners, agriculturalists, and local lawmakers creates fresh revenue streams for vintners, farmers, and ranchers.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Camping–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.
Contacts
Lydia Davey for Hipcamp, press@hipcamp.com