HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/2/2020 Item 12, Johnson
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Gail Johnson <
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:James Papp; Victoria Wood
Subject:Regarding the project @ 545 Higuera–486 Marsh
Dear San Luis Obispo City Council Members:
There are others who are so much more informed than I regarding the recent
developments and planned projects Downtown SLO. I could not speak intelligently
about them, only emotionally. The following is my letter of protest, without hope of
changing anyone’s mind:
It is clear that the character of the town my mother roamed as a child, the
neighborhoods that were home to Richard Chong and Thomas Higuera, are forever
gone.
My childhood memories of independent business owners, characters like
Thomas Norwood, Myron Graham, Downtown Brown or Mr. Hanna, will not be
shared by future generations. And because these emotions, experiences, businesses
and neighborhoods are not known to current policy-makers, politicians or SLO
residents, there is nothing to “preserve” in their minds.
The “feelings” that architecture — design and scale — evoke are intentional. The
enormous developments Downtown, recent and proposed, evoke only the feeling of
power and commerce, disregarding nature, tranquility and community. Any open
space, tree or bench is an afterthought placed “conveniently” to give “lip service” to
a human expectation.
After reading the "Community Design Guidelines" that James Papp and Allan Cooper
abbreviated at the bottom of their “Friend of a Sane San Luis” letter, unambiguously
stating that the goals of development should incorporate and preserve the scale and
themes of historical buildings, it is abundantly clear that these guidelines are being
ignored and the tide is against the preservation of the “character” of old
Downtown.
People like Dr. Papp understand the need, the importance, of maintaining a
connection to history. Even Hiroshima, devastated by a nuclear holocaust, has
preserved their ruins and hold festivals every year to bring people together and
honor the past. (Where are our public festivals: La Fiesta, Mardi Gras?) Our
architectural history exists in pockets of protected “historic significance”: Mission
SLO, the Jack House, Buchon Street. But “significance” is in the eye of the
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beholder. And as the witnesses to the past like Jean Martin die, the collective
opinion of what is significant will erode and gradually wash away.
There is an opportunity to save the historic character of the entry corridor to
Downtown San Luis Obispo — Marsh Street south of Nipomo. It appears that
prudent policies are already in place. But the forces of development and the fiscal
needs of bureaucrats are pushing hard against the last holdouts in favor of “sane”
building practices. Is it an unstoppable force of nature? Probably so.
Respectfully,
Gail Johnson
former co-owner of the Kaetzel House
currently residing in Morro Bay
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