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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/11/1979M I N U T E S ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE.CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1979 - 7:30 P.M. HEARING ROOM, CITY HALL 990 PALM STREET, SAN LUIS OBISPO Pledge .Roll Call Councilmembers ' Present: Melanie Billig, Alan Bond, Jeff'Jorgensen and Mayor Lynn. Cooper Absent: Ron Dunin City Staff Present: Lee Walton, Administrative Officer; George Thacher, City Attorney; Henry Engen, Community Development Director; Terry Sanville, Senior Planner; Wayne Peterson, City Engineer; Jerry Lynch, Attorney representing City vs.'Bilodeau case; Pam Voges, Recording Secretary 1. The City Council.adjourned.to Executive Session at 7:40 p.m. to discuss pending litigation re Bilodeau case. .8:25 p.m., City Council recon- vened in Regular Session in the Council Chambers, Councilman Dunin absent. 2. Report on activities of standing Council Subcommittees were received as follows: A) Area Council of Governments B) C.C.C.J.C. .C) County Water Advisory Board D) Whale Rock Committee E) Zone 9 Advisory Committee Councilwoman Billig Councilman Bond Councilman Jorgensen for Mayor Cooper Mayor Cooper Councilman Dunin absent 3. Mayor Cooper announced that consideration of appointments to the Park and Recreation Commission would be continued until the September 18, 1979 Council meeting. 4. . Downtown Goals Statement Henry Engen, Community Development Director, briefly summarized the history behind the preparation of a Downtown Goals Statement which was originally part one of a "Downtown Specific Plan" which was subsequently modified by the Council in July, 1979 to forego preparation of a specific plan in favor: -of just a goals statement: He stated that the Community Development staff recommended that the Council adopt the Downtown Goals Statement and direct staff to prepare a resolution outlining Council's comments and reasons for adoption to be brought back for Council consideration at their next regular meeting. Terry Sanville, Senior Planner, explained that the Downtown Goals Statement had not broken down into fine detail all of the issues but rather painted ' an overall picture for the future of downtown. The report had been divided into five parts. Sanville indicated•`.that the Council should accept public comment although this had not been advertised as a public hearing in an effort to get as much public response as possible. He requested that the Council review the report by going through it section by section. By general consensus, the City Council decided to listen to public testimony but wished to withhold adoption of the Downtown Goals Statement until the full Council was present. City Council Minutes September 11, 1979 - 7:30 p.m. Page 2 Jay Schetzer, representing the Citizens' Advisory Committee, stated that the Committee had addressed this issue twice before and although he hadn't the opportunity to read the latest revision to the Downtown Goals Statement wished to reemphasize the C.A.C.'s concerns with the priorities in the Land. Use Sec tion (Section V) as follows: 1) the CAC agreed entirely with the statement that "The commercial core should be used primarily for retail businesses serving the entire community. The ground floor should be reserved for retail stores and entertainment facilities which depend on pedestrian traffic." 2) "Offices should be given second priority... they should be above the first floor to avoid breaking the flow of pedestrian traffic." The CAC believed that offices were not usually involved in comparison shopping and there was no real necessity for them to be located in the commercial core. 3) "Housing should be given third priority downtown..." The.CAC believed that priorities 2 and 3 should be reversed. Heather Baird, Palm Street, spoke in support of keeping housing available to the senior citizens downtown by preserving the existing hotels and.other housing in the downtown area. She suggested that the City require use permits before existing housing downtown could be converted into offices in order to allow ample opportunity for review by concerned citizens. Rena Metras, stated she agreed with the comments made by Heather Baird and that: it was commendable for a young person to speak.. iri- support `of ;.'thri.:senior -citizens and that she also strongly favored preserving these buildings to insure that these senior citizens could continue living downtown where shopping, transporta- tion, etc. was accessible. Ernie Hansen, stated that he had recently been evicted from a downtown hotel and had been able to rent in another one downtown but it.had not been.easy readjusting. He urged the Council to support low rent housing for the elderly as it was the senior citizen who had made San Luis Obispo what it was today. Sophie Taylor stated she was very concerned with the possible.closure of the Granada Hotel where she lives. She felt she cannot afford to move and the waiting list for the Anderson Hotel was too long. She urged the Council to protect the Granada from being converted into office spaces. Jerry Munger, representing the BIA, felt the proposal by staff for downtown was a good one to continue the preservation of an already well developed downtown area. They felt that Downtown San Luis Obispo was a regional shop - ping.:center and hoped it would continue that way. They felt the Downtown Goals Statement would continue to keep the downtown progressive. Page 7, under "Downtown Parking ", paragraph 3 stated, "However, if you're willing to walk a little, some spaces are almost always•.open in the public parking lots or along streets surrounding the downtown." He stated he did not feel this was necessarily true. LaVerne Schneider felt the Council should encourage housing in the downtown area for the senior.citizens and to expand this type of housing as far out as Madonna Plaza as many of the same` facilities .are'.available -.arid still con- venient for them such as shopping, buses, etc. She felt that the city should watch closely and protect downtown housing above store shops from being con- verted into offices. Jeanne Allen, representing the League of Women Voters, stated they had several concerns regarding the adoption of the Downtown Goals Statement: 1) they hoped the Council would protect the aesthetic character of the creek; 2) were con- cerned of the affect a multi -level parking lot would have on the downtown and the pedestrians; and 3) urged that the much talked about cultural center would also stay downtown with the City working closely with the County to work this out. City Council Minutes September 11, 1979 - 7:30 p.m. Page 3 G. D. Spradlin appeared before the City Council urging them to keep the proposed cultural center downtown and not scatter portions of it all over the city. He felt that although the Laguna Lake area (one of the suggested sites) had benefits in that the City already owned the land and therefore would be quicker to build, he felt the long -term needs of the city would best be served by having the cultural center in the downtown area. San Luis Obispo is a small city and would continue to grow slowly so a cultural center in the central area of downtown would keep the heart of downtown from being destroyed. To put those facilites on the perimeter he felt it would fragment the city. Tom Hyse,.. "633 Palm Street, stated that as owner of a design and architectural firm, he.was.also concerned with housing in the downtown. He felt that if the downtown residents were displaced with offices, it would be loss to the down - town. He urged.the Council to preserve the downtown by not converting anymore hotels. He hoped the Council would be specific in their decision as how to proceed with this protection. Stephen Nelson, representing the City's Housing Authority, stated he saw the need for the senior citizens to be in protected housing but can see the problem that it is obviously financially more economical to put in offices. He felt ther was a real need for more hotels like the Anderson and he hoped he could work with owners of these developments to keep them from converting. He thought that HUD might be helpful in providing this financial help. Councilman Jorgensen agreed with Mr. Nelson's comments and would support HUD help. Councilman Billig proposed that the City consider buying some of the older hotels downtown as an alternative and let the Housing Authority run them. Stephen Nelson added that if the City would come up with the seed money, then HUD might be willing to go along with helping the keepithe owners of these hotels from converting. Mayor Cooper mentioned that some of these owners might not be aware of the historical level these building have and the benefits available for the restoration of them. Stephen Nelson stated he would take the Mayor's comments as a directive and contact the owners of these hotels and try to get the ball moving. Fred Peterson spoke in support of keeping the hotels in the downtown area from being converted. This housing was affordable to himself and many others and without it would cause a real hardship. Ken Porsche called attention to Page 2, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Goals Statement referencing downtown slums being a problem of city resident. He stated the downtown is a regional community center encompassing city, county, Cal Poly, etc. and the responsibility was with all.these groups. The down- town should not cater to only San Luis Obispo residents. Kathryn Owens stated she felt housing in the downtown area was needed for the senior citizens because they cannot live will in the outlying areas. She also felt there was a need for housing for the youth. Penny Rappa wanted to see the Council set specific goals for the downtown. If the financial economics were to be their only concern, then this was wrong. She wanted to see a program outlining. what makes a town vital. She felt the downtown area was the vital area and must be protected. Several elements of the General Plan would be coming to the Council in the near future and she felt it was necessary to establish these goals first. Jerry Munger again urged the Council to protect the downtown area. Upon general consensus, the City Council continued discussion and possible adoption of the Downtown Goals Statement to Monday, October 1,. 1979 at 12:10 p.m. Councilman Jorgensen commented that he was very pleased to hear the strong support from those present that they felt the downtown should remain the vital area of the city.