What should happen to old Morro Bay Power Plant site? Ideas include aquarium, boat launch

For decades, the mothballed Morro Bay Power Plant has sat dormant on the coastline.

In 2019, Texas-based energy company Vistra Corp. applied to build a 24-acre, 600-megawatt battery storage facility on the property at 1290 Embarcadero.

Now the city is designing a master plan that creates guidelines for development on the 107-acre site, according to Morro Bay planning manager Cindy Jacinth.

Part of that process involves surveying the community about preferred uses of the waterfront property.

The city circulated a survey from January to February to receive input from the community for the site, which collected 619 responses, according to a report published Sept. 12.

More than 70% of survey respondents said they want the property to include parks and open space, while almost 60% would like an aquarium to be built there, the report said.

About 40% of respondents recommended a museum or harbor-related uses such as a boat launch.

Lesser priorities included hotels, restaurants, retail and renewable energy, the report said.

“There’s such a vast potential for this property in a prime location,” Jacinth said.

Survey: Morro Bay residents don’t want battery storage plant on property

Survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that a battery storage facility is not compatible with the Embarcadero property, the report said, siding with a local group that’s trying to stop the plant from being built.

Citizens for Estero Bay Preservation collected 1,327 signatures to place an initiative on the November 2024 ballot designed to block the battery plant.

The 24-acre parcel where Vistra plans to build its battery storage facility used to be an oil tank farm, according to the city’s report.

The former tank farm site is contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), which are fuel oils burned to generate electricity, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are found in TPHs, according to a 2022 report from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

That portion of land also contains pollution from metals, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control found.

Unless the pollution is cleaned up, the former tank farm site can only be safely used for industrial or commercial purposes like the proposed battery plant, the state agency said.

Scientists couldn’t test soil under the power plant building at the center of the property, so they do not know if that portion of land is contaminated, the Department of Toxic Substances Control found. However, the agency did not detect harmful levels of pollution on other parts of the property.

If the battery plant is built, survey respondents thought harbor-related uses and renewable energy would be appropriate next to the facility, while hotels, parks and housing would be least compatible.

Possible uses of Embarcadero site include museum, boat launch

The survey also asked residents to share their vision for other parts of the property.

Along the Embarcadero, survey respondents preferred a “promenade-type pathway with open spaces and landscaping for viewing the waterfront,” the city’s report said.

Other top choices included a strip of restaurants and retail lining the Embarcadero; a museum, or fishing uses such as a boat launch, the report said.

Survey respondents also recommended crosswalks with pedestrian crossing lights to connect the eastern and western portion of the Embarcadero, especially near the Maritime Museum and the intersection with Beach Street.

The former power plant building sits in the center of the property, next to the office for Pacific Wildlife Care, a nonprofit organization that rescues and rehabilitates animals.

Survey respondents overwhelmingly supported preserving Pacific Wildlife Care, and recommended replacing the power plant building with an educational facility focused on Morro Bay’s wildlife and cultural history.

The respondants also recommended public open spaces, boat storage, a hotel and public parking on the power plant site.

Finally, 90% of survey respondents preferred that the hillside along South Street be preserved as open space with trails and lookout points, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, 10% of respondents wanted to see housing developed on the hill.

“I think it’s really great that there’s a variety of uses and interest by the community,” Jacinth said. “It was really great input that we got from the community that really recognized its location.”

How could energy company develop power plant property?

As the owner of the Morro Bay Power Plant property, Vistra will ultimately decide how to develop it — as long as future projects align with the master plan, Jacinth said.

Right now, Vistra is focused on the battery plant application and hasn’t approached the city with ideas for developing the rest of the land, she said.

Rincon Consultants is developing the master plan, and a draft will be available to the public by the end of 2023, according to Jacinth.

The city will host a community workshop in late January or early February to gather community input for the final draft, she said.