He and his wife purchased a five-acre property with the intention of opening a campground-like retreat made up of four Airstream trailers that visitors could rent on Airbnb. After spending five years and over $250,000 preparing to open - a process that included restoring the vintage Airstream trailers by hand, connecting those trailers to utilities systems, moving through permitting processes and developing business and marketing plans - Troy's venture was up and running for about a week.
The upcoming closures by refining giants Phillips 66 and Valero Energy have triggered an about-face from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state regulators to try to keep the fuel complexes open after years of rules that cut into their bottom lines. It's too late to save Phillips 66's Los Angeles refinery, which is processing its final shipments of crude oil in October before closing before the end of this year.