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HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDhampianb4From : Ken Hampian [mailto :kchampian@charter .net ] Sent : Thursday, July 08, 2010 2 :49 PM To : John Ashbaugh ; Marx, Jan ; Settle, Allen ; Carter, Andrew ; Romero , Dav e Cc : Dietrick, Christine ; Lichtig, Katie ; Cano, Elain a Subject : Prado Road Measur e Mayor and City Council Members : As you know, I have not written or expressed an opinion about a Cit y issue since my departure from City service in January .My goal ha s been to step back and in no way interfere as our City moves forwar d during this period of new leadership and change . However, I s o strongly oppose the Prado Road Ballot Measure that I must expres s myself now, prior to when this topic will be discussed by Council o n July 20 . Attached are my reasons for opposing the measure and my observation s about the emotional arguments and misinformation upon which the "case " for the measure primarily rests . I would appreciate it if the attache d document could either be included in the agenda packet for the July 20 , 2010 meeting or distributed as a formal Red File shortly after th e public distribution of the meeting agenda on July 13 . I am glad that the Council will engage in a factual discussion of th e issues on the 20th . But more importantly, I hope that Council members , given your many opportunities to interface with the public, will wor k hard in the coming months to get the correct information out to ou r fellow residents . A lot is at stake . Thank you very much . Ken Hampian RED FILE — ME ING AGENDA DATE.1 a°//°ITEM #134 RECEIVE D JUL 15 2010 SLO CITY CLER K ,~N ;~CoPY~I L ?_I OUNCIL CDD DI R f-ACAO~~SIN DI R pTORNEY iP CHIS P RIO [W W DI R Cl DEPT HEADS :3-POLICE C H P „r a CI-MC C DI RPc–~-CI-ITIL DI RDIR i NUJ rl ryi£~~C°/UCIL ~GI7Y rvtG2 WE SHOULD OPPOSE THE PRADO ROAD MEASUR E BECAUSE . .. 1.H .L. Mencken was right ! As essayist H .L. Mencken said,"For every comp/ex problem, there is a solution that i ssimple,neat . .. and wrong."If the Prado Road measure passes, years of rigorou s study, public input, and thoughtful decision making will be replaced by a series of "jus t say no" rewrites to our Land Use and Circulation Elements, Margarita and Airport Are a Specific Plans, and Zoning Map . It is wrong to treat such complex, high-stakes plannin g and traffic engineering policies in such a simplistic, cavalier manner . 2.The case for the measure relies on emotional and false arguments . SLO is a great community for a lot of reasons . One big reason is that even when w e feel passionately about issues, we almost always make our decisions in thoughtful an d informed ways . The case against the northerly alignment relies on emotiona l arguments and misleading information . But the emotional case is weak, and a s exposed in a 2003 Tribune editorial, with just a little fact-finding and critical thinking , the case quickly falls apart (see "Observations about the Emotional Arguments"). 3.The measure offers no alternatives to improve east-west travel in SLO . While initiative proponents may verbally toss around alternatives, there is absolutel y nothing in the measure itself that provides a solution to our cross-town travel problem . Instead, it simply leads to a dead end – literally . 4.The adopted alignment is way better than the ugly alternatives . The two other road alignment options that have been extensively discussed and studie d are to re-route Prado Road to Industrial Way or to Tank Farm Road . As Mayor Romero recently said, these options are "both terrible!" Anyone concerned about safety shoul d hate the Industrial Way option .It would run the traffic right through a much safe r dedicated park entrance, bi-sect parking lots, and route traffic right next to th e restrooms and a snack bar . Tank Farm Road, offered up by measure proponents as th e simple fix, isn't so simple! For example, 10 years ago the Santa Lucia Homeowners Association, representing thousands of residents in the Edna-Islay neighborhoods, wen t on record in opposition to this option because of neighborhood traffic and safet y concerns . Others along Tank Farm Road, such as businessman Doug Hoffman of Sa n Luis Paper, also strongly oppose this alternative because of existing traffic and safet y issues at Tank Farm and Santa Fe Roads (see June 27, 2010 Tribune Viewpoint). 5.It will be so hard to agree upon another alignment that we are mor e apt to implement half measures or – worse yet – do nothing . Half-measures have been tried before with poor results . For example, LOVR dead-end s into South Higuera (instead of connecting to Vachell Lane and Buckley Road) because a few people who opposed the extension carried the day back in the 1970's . If we tak e half-measures or do nothing, at a minimum traffic will get worse on LOVR, Tank Far m Road and South Street (the modifications to South Street to make it safer for childre n was deemed viable only because the Prado Road extension was assumed in our future). And traffic will get worse and compromise safety in many other neighborhoods as we al l pursue our favorite short-cuts and meanderings in order to get across town . 6.The measure, if successful, will flush a gigantic investment of publi c and private resources, and it will cost millions more in pursuit of a mythical "win-win" alternative promised by measure advocates . Millions in public and private resources were invested in making an alignment decisio n and finalizing related plans (such as the Orcutt Road, Airport Area, and Margarita Specific Plans). Costs were driven by studies, land acquisition, staff time , environmental work, design, and the public process (including numerous advisory bod y and council hearings).It will also cost tax payers millions more to do it all over again – and it will be even harder next time.And what about the area property owners? Man y are long-time local residents who worked in good faith through our complex an d expensive processes over the course of a decade or more . If the measure passes , there will be many costly changes for them, too (e .g . a map prepared by measur e proponents shows Prado Road re-routed through an approved Margarita subdivision). 7.There will be other hidden public costs, like the price of housing . While staying within our growth limits, the City's Housing Element says that we nee d more housing if we are to have any hope of impacting our affordability problem . Th e the Margarita and Orcutt areas are where most of this new housing will be built . But if the measure passes, this housing will be delayed for a very long time as we try to figur e out and pay for a new circulation system . This delay will drive housing prices higher . 8.It represents ballot box planning and governance at its worst . Our state government is dysfunctional in large part because ballot box governance ha s elevated single interests above the greater good . The Prado Road measure is abou t achieving a single interest that a handful of people could not achieve through th e appropriate governance process . If their single-minded quest succeeds, a community- wide goal that has been affirmed by City leaders since 1962 – improving east-wes t travel in SLO by extending Prado Road – will be set back for years or killed entirely . Observations about the EMOTIONAL ARGUMENTS ' Regarding child safety,as said in a 2003 Tribune editorial,'Although concerns abou t a four lane road that 'bisects the playing fields and open space park' sounds wort h fighting for, closer inspection shows that it is not."Virtually every SLO park, playin g field and school ground is bordered by a road (or roads) – and often by huge roads . For example, Highway 1 runs past Santa Rosa Park, LOVR runs past Laguna Junio r High, Tank Farm runs past Islay Hill Park, and Highway 227 runs past Meadow Park an d the Damon-Garcia fields . Prado Road will be designed to safely separate field users an d cars . Only at one small point will it get slightly closer to the playing fields (70') tha n 227 is right now along the entire park frontage (76') – and this will only happen if an d when the road is widened from two to four lanes many years (or decades) from now . Regarding fostering "a city that resembles . ..Los Angeles,"if you don't like bi g city traffic congestion, you should hate this measure!If this ballot measure stops u s from completing a desperately needed road extension, we will have growing and sever e traffic problems on many streets in SLO into the distant future . We won't be like Los Angeles (an absurd and overused comparison), but it will be bad enough . Regarding the integrity of the northerly alignment decision,few City issue s have been more thoroughly, openly and repeatedly discussed than the Prado Roa d alignment .Every question and false assertion has been addressed – over and over . One big false assertion is that the property was bought solely for playing fields and onl y later was land "switched" and "cordoned off" for a road . Here's the truth : the land wa s appraised and bought with the explicit understanding that 3-4 acres would be for th e road alignment . And here's the proof : See page 1 of the June 15, 1999 land purchas e Council agenda report . Initiative sponsors were given this document years ago . Regarding the environment,the City completed the Damon-Garcia field project in a way that turned an environmental sow's ear into a silk purse ; the road will be built wit h great sensitivity, too .Things take longer to get done in SLO because we are rigorou s when it comes to following –and typically exceeding –environmental requirements . The Prado Road project is no exception . The adopted alignment was studied extensivel y and publically ; the process met or exceeded all CEQA requirements ; and the projec t includes numerous mitigation measures (such as the protection of cultural resources). Regarding childhood asthma,it is simply not right to use this illness to bolster th e proponents' emotional case!As we parents of asthmatics know, the causes of asthm a are complex and varied, as are the methods for prevention and treatment . But if w e are concerned about community air quality (and we should be), we know tha t improving air quality requires regional strategies . We can do our part by completin g our General Plan road network, rather than perpetuating more traffic congestion by falling prey to a fear based ballot measure .