Libertine Brewing is set to rebuild in Morro Bay including a restaurant, hotel, and new coastal access 

Morro Bay's old Libertine Brewing Company location will look very different within the next year. The waterfront venue recently received a permit to build a new restaurant, hotel, and public plaza on Embarcadero.

Spending more than two years in the process of obtaining permits—one of which was deferred by the Morro Bay City Council and later overridden by the California Coastal Commission—Libertine owner Eric Newton now has the go-ahead to make the proposed expansion a reality.

click to enlarge

• Image Taken From Morro Bay City Council Staff Report
• BIGGER AND BETTER The Libertine's design for its new building along the waterfront features a public plaza and a lookout area on the second floor.

"This process for this development has been a long time coming," Newton said at the June 13 Coastal Commission meeting. "But I think through the process we have developed the best program requirements for this project location."

Newton did not reply to New Times' requests for an interview prior to press time.

According to the Coastal Commission staff report, the current building is two stories and 4,677 square feet. It's set to be demolished and replaced with a new two-story 5,206-square-foot building.

The first floor will include a restaurant and coffee shop while the second floor will feature seven hotel rooms. A public plaza is planned for the current nearby parking lot to provide an open space along the waterfront.

"The project at its core is a visitor-serving use that should help to invigorate this prime visitor-serving spot along the popular Embarcadero," the Coastal Commission staff report read.

click to enlarge

• Photo By Libbey Hanson
• GIVE ME LIBERTINE The old Morro Bay Libertine Brewing location on the Embarcadero will be demolished and rebuilt into a restaurant, hotel, and public plaza.

The project includes other coastal access amenities such as a 15-foot-wide public accessway along the harbor walk, a floating dock for public daytime use, and a lookout area on the building's second floor that will be available to the public during daylight hours.

The Coastal Commission's approval went back to the City Council on Aug. 13 after the council previously deferred the public plaza portion of the project in January, requiring Libertine to create an alternative parking plan to replace the lost spaces.

"The [Coastal Commission] determined the public plaza would be a better use for the street end than the parking that currently exists," Morro Bay's staff report stated.

According to the local historic parking credits, a calculation method to determine parking requirements based on a building's square footage, parking requirements would still be met despite losing 11 parking spaces to The Libertine's project.

While the land permit was an action item on the City Council's Aug. 13 agenda, the Coastal Commission's June decision on the project overrode any objections the council could have against the plaza.

Libertine owner Newton asked the council to consider how the plaza could positively impact visitors and residents at the Aug. 13 meeting.

"While I understand that parking is really important, and it's a concern to the city and the public, I ask that the council really weigh the benefits of the plaza area," he said. "Throughout my dealings with the Coastal Commission it's become completely obvious that the benefits of the public plaza outweigh the loss of parking."

In addition to parking space losses, the council expressed concerns about what the plaza will look like—something that also came up during the project's January hearing.

Currently, The Libertine plans to lay down decomposed granite (DG)—a malleable material that can adapt for various public uses. The material was selected due to its resiliency and lower cost compared to harder landscaping.

DG was one of the main reasons the council deferred the plaza in the first place and said it seemed "counterproductive" to build with the decomposed granite only to have to reconstruct it later with a harder landscape.

While DG remains in the current plan, the potential need to pave the space later was confirmed as a possibility that would need approval from the City Council.

During public comment on Aug. 13, Morro Bay resident Betty Winholtz said that she found decomposed granite to be "rough and not pretty," and unsuitable for the local weather conditions because it would track throughout town.

Councilmember Cyndee Edwards said she recognizes the significance that the project holds for Morro Bay. She also said that The Libertine already received the approval it needed, regardless of the council's vote on the project.

"We are agreeing to this project right now not being completely sure what everything else is going to look like holistically," Edwards said.

Councilmember Jennifer Ford shared excitement for the new development.

"I'm glad we got to talk about this again; it's a really important project for the city," she said.

On Aug. 13, Newton told council members that the company is about 30 days away from submitting its construction plan, and although council approval is not required for the project to continue, he asked for their support as the "final piece of the puzzle."

The council unanimously approved the conditions of the plaza. However, Mayor Carla Wixom said it won't be the last time the council will discuss the landscape of the plaza.

"I think there's many more conversations to be had," Wixom said. "We are going to keep circling back to the product for this plaza." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Libbey Hanson at [email protected]