HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/2/2020 Item 12, Czech
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Genevieve Czech <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Item #12 on June 02, 2020
To the Honorable Members of the City Council and Lady Mayoress,
Thank you for your flexibility in accommodating our participation in the discussion of the items of
concern to all SLO residents. I write with grave concerns of a longstanding proposal for a mammoth
structure at 545 Higuers-486 Marsh.
When Copelands sold their properties to Jamestown, an Atlanta, Georgia enterprise, it was predictable
that the native pride in maintaining the small town feel and look of SLO would be sacrificed to the vision
of a more modern and dense urban model. It suited them that the thrust from Sacramento was for
dense urban development unimpeded by environmental review and local regulations. Thus we residents
witnessed a haste on our City´s part to approve developers´ plans for projects of overlarge mass and
scale, with facades and materials and color schemes, heights of over 50 feet out of sync with our
Community guidelines, and obliterating little by little the view shed of the hills surrounding our beloved
San Luis Obispo.
Director of Jamestown Retail Leasing, Kristen Morris, says on LinkedIn that she has ¨learned a lot from
Corona Virus¨. Has she learned that high density and congregate living may no longer be a viable
option?
When the Ventura developer lost his plan to develop a supposedly much needed family friendly bowling
alley, bar/restaurant, concert center, Jamestown architect, Mark Rawson, on the revised project for the
site declared that they took a much broader look at what was REALLY needed in our downtown, and
that this site was a REALLY key piece of property. He was quoted as telling an ARC meeting in Dec., 2018,
that ¨One of the things we see that will help keep the downtown healthy is to have a lot of people
downtown¨. No doubt, Mr. Rawson spoke to the City´s mutual wish to keep our downtown healthy with
a lively number of residents,workers, shoppers and tourists. The vital question remains how best to
serve this aim, while securing optimal, healthful environment and conditions.
What are Jamestown and our priorities and goals in this historic
Covid-19 time? Surely the judgment of 2018 is adjusting to the new reality and awareness of urban living
with a view to the health and safety of the citizens therein? Were we to return to the guidelines of our
own Community we would name a few:
5.4 C2 Large single structures should be avoided
5.4 C1 Structures exceeding 150 feet in length should be discouraged.
If we are to keep SLO architecturally distinctive, integrate historic themes into building and site design
where appropriate, preserve and protect historic neighborhoods and open spaces, adjust our concept of
density and enlarge our concept of green spaces, then it is incumbent that you uphold the appeal and
deny this project. There could be a very positive outcome for Jamestown in reviewing their proposed
use of the site, with a more modest, plan designed primarily for affordable housing with a family friendly
green space incorporated...a standard that could speak to other city planners in a post Covid-19 world.
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Respectfully yours,
Genevive Czech, 612 Stanford Drive, San Luis Obispo
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