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Home My WebLink About7/27/2020 Item 2, Cooper Wilbanks, Megan From:Allan Cooper < To:Bell, Kyle; Advisory Bodies; Emily Creel Subject:Item #2: CHC's July 27, 2020 Review of 12165 and 12393 Los Osos Valley Road Attachments:907_24_20...lettertochc.pdf Dear Kyle - Would you kindly forward the letter attached below to the Cultural Heritage Committee? This letter pertains to their Monday, July 27, 2020 review of the historical structures located within the proposed Froom Ranch project. Keep well and thank you! - Allan 1 Save Our Downtown ______________________________________________________________________________ Seeking to protect and promote the historical character, design, livability and economic success of downtown San Luis Obispo. To: San Luis Obispo Cultural Heritage Committee and Emily Creel, Contract Planner Re: Item #2: July 27, 2020 Review of 12165 and 12393 Los Osos Valley Road   From: Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo Date: July 24, 2020 At your conceptual review of this project on August 28, 2017 the developer expressed concern that because the Round‐Nose Barn is currently located on a potentially active fault line, the key structures should be relocated approximately 200 feet downhill (east) to facilitate occupied future use of the structure. At your next conceptual review of this project on November 18, 2019 you asked that staff identify in map form the location of these fault line setbacks. Finally, the latest design iteration shows these historical structures relocated some distance uphill from the fault line in order to mitigate potential damage to both life and property . But during these discussions, no mention has been made of another, more extreme hazard threatening these structures and its occupants, i.e., the threat of wild land ﬁre ranging from “high” to the north and “very high” to the south (see the maps below). The Froom Ranch EIR unequivocally states that the adverse impacts of exposing occupants to wild land ﬁre hazards combined with critically impaired emergency response are both signiﬁcant and unavoidable risks. Though this is beyond your purview, the inadvisability of this project is partly due to the following: 1) The residents of Villaggio would constitute a special needs population under the City’s EOP and would require special care services and resources during a wild land ﬁre. When a wild land ﬁre is imminent, it will be difficult for the healthcare center to guide panicked individuals to ﬁre meeting points and shelter-in-place locations; 2) During a wildﬁre, over 1,231 residents, employees, hotel guests and visitors may all at once need to evacuate the site. Vehicles would contribute to congestion on evacuation routes along LOVR and U.S. 101, contributing to probable evacuation-related congestion, potential road closures, and exposure of evacuees to traffic-related hazards during evacuation; and 3) Following a wildﬁre there would be a potential for people and structures to be exposed to signiﬁcant risks associated with potential ﬂooding, sedimentation, and debris ﬂow. At the very least, one of your recommendations should include requiring ﬁre buffer clearances around these historical buildings and a debris ﬂow detention dam located uphill from these historical structures. Presently, there is neither a written nor a graphic description of these requirements. There should also be some reference to the fact that these ﬁre buffers will also result in potential secondary impacts to biological resources both on and off the project site. Thank you! Drainage 3 Drainage 2 Drainage 4 Drainage 1DEVAUL RANCH ROADLOS OSOS VALLEY ROADCALLE JOAQUINFroom Creek Prefumo CreekSan Luis Obispo CreekIRISH HILLS PLAZA IRISH HILLS NATURAL RESERVE 101 101 LEGEND Threat of Fire Project Site Irish Hills Natural Reserve City of San Luis Obispo Moderate High Very High 0 750 SCALE IN FEET N Fire Hazard Severity Zones 3.7-1 FIGURE 3.7-4 Figure 2). However, as described above, unlike Alternative 1, this area of the Specific Plan has been revised in the current draft to also allow some multi‐family (R‐3) development above the 150‐foot elevation adjacent to the park. Refer to Figure 3. It is important to note that the proposed location of the public trailhead park and relocated historic structures has changed; however, the general approach to the treatment of historic structures described in the Conformance Review (Final EIR Appendix F.3, linked above) is similarly proposed with the revised Specific Plan and is, therefore, still considered relevant. As described in the Final EIR, the historic structures would be relocated and reconstructed on graded terrain to maintain the historic configuration and proportional relationship of the buildings to each other (consistent with the analysis in the Conformance Report). The relocated historic structures are proposed to be used as offices and storage areas for the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, and more specifically ranger staff, as described below: 1) Main Residence – the historic building would be rehabilitated per Secretary of the Interior (SOI) standards and improvements would include the structural reinforcement of the roof and walls, installation of a new foundation, and installation of utilities to the building. The Main Residence would potentially be used as a ranger station/interpretive center. A small parking area is provided through a maintenance driveway that would provide a place for guests and ranger service vehicles. 2) Creamery/House – the proposed treatment of this historic building is more interpretive, rather than a full reconstruction. The main goal is to preserve the overall building form and rooflines. The western portion of the building would be rebuilt to provide public restrooms within a custom footprint with the same dimensions as the existing building. The eastern portion of the building would be reimagined to capture the silhouette of the existing building but be more open. The area is envisioned as a covered picnic area within the park. Refer to Figure 4. Figure 3. Conceptual Trailhead Park Plan Item 2 Packet Page 11 Drainage 3Drainage 2 Drainage 4Drainage 1DEVAUL RANCH ROADLOS OSOS VALLEY ROADCALLE JOAQUINFroom Creek Prefumo CreekSan Luis Obispo CreekIRISH HILLSPLAZAIRISH HILLSNATURAL RESERVE 101 101 LEGEND Threat of Fire Project Site Irish Hills Natural Reserve City of San Luis Obispo Moderate High Very High 0 750 SCALE IN FEET N Fire Hazard Severity Zones 3.7-1 FIGURE 3.7-4