News - Local - North Coast

Saturday, Jun. 28, 2008

Fire cuts lifeline to business

Without the flow of tourists from the scenic highway, business isn’t what it used to be

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Highway 1 has been closed for a week because of fires burning in Big Sur, and motels, restaurants and shops in Cambria and San Simeon dependent on tourist traffic are feeling the heat.

Skyrocketing gas prices already had business owners’ nerves on edge. Now one of the most scenic drives in the world is closed to motorists about 30 miles north of Ragged Point.

What had been two blazes — the Basin and Gallery fires—burned together Thursday and are now known as the Basin Complex Fire.

By Friday, the blaze had burned nearly 42 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest and destroyed 16 homes in the Big Sur area. The fire was only 3 percent contained as firefighters worked to protect

more than 500 homes and other buildings threatened by the blaze.

As the road closure heads into its second week, Caltrans has no idea when it might be safe enough to reopen the highway.

More than 1.4 million vehicles traverse the Big Sur coastline each year, according to Caltrans, or an average of 3,700 a day carrying 8,500 people.

“It affects us severely when Highway 1 is closed,” said Ken Cooper, owner of The Bluebird Inn in Cambria. “One day is not a big deal, but this has been a week. That’s not good.”

After the road closed, “the effect was almost immediate,” he said. “A big part of our business comes down the highway, tired and dizzy from the road. They’ll stay for the night and go to Hearst Castle the next day.”

But with the highway shut down, “that’s not happening.” So, “we’re all suf fering the same thing, with business probably down 10 to 15 percent with the road closure.”

A drop-off in the number of tours given at Hearst Castle backs up Cooper’s estimate.

In the six days before the road closure, the number of tours was up over 2 percent from the comparable period in 2007.

In the five days since the closure, the year-to-year comparison shows nearly an 8 percent drop.

Mel McColloch, president of the Cambria Chamber of Commerce, said many visitors driving south on Highway 1 will forgo their visit to Hearst Castle or the elephant seal rookery because of the closure. To get there, they’d have to go back to Monterey, cross to Highway 101, head south to Paso Robles to Highway 46, and travel west back to Highway 1.

The extra time and mileage “puts a real crimp in their plans, especially with kids in the car,” Cooper said. “ ‘Are we there yet?’ Instead, they just say, ‘The heck with it.’ ”

“It’s affecting business,” said Chris Gutierrez, co-owner of Cambria General Store. “It’s much slower…but it’s hard to tell if it’s the road closure that’s hurting us or the economy that’s hurting us.”

Suffering already

“The first quarter was crummy,” said Tom Beal of Caren’s Corner in Cambria, which sells ice cream and souvenirs. “Then, finally, within the last two weeks, business had returned to normal.”

High gas prices — now $4.95 a gallon for regular unleaded in Cambria — and an overall shaky economy have had business owners worried.

Besides the road closure and economy, some customers say they’re staying away because they’ve heard the North Coast’s usually clean air is clogged with smoke.

McColloch said most area lodgings and restaurants were holding their own—barely — but that retail businesses have been hurting the most, with “business down about 20 percent” or more.

Even with Highway 1 closed, some tourists are venturing into the area just north of San Simeon.

Nikki Ramey works in the coffee bar of the Ragged Point Inn. “Business is steady but slow,” she said Friday. “It’s not good. I’ve had to tell people they’ll be turned around about 30 miles north.”

Even so, “we still have people driving all the way around (from Monterey) because they want to see Ragged Point and Salmon Creek Falls. But they really wanted to see Big Sur, so they’re disappointed.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.