HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/17/2020 Item 11, O'Neill
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Kathleen O'Neill <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Support of staff recommendation for item #11 on your 11/17/2020 agenda:
continuation of winter access to Cerro San Luis for one more season
Attachments:Letter to SLO City Council re winter access of Cerro San Luis, 11-12-2020.docx
Could you please acknowledge receipt of this letter?
1
To: The SLO City Council
From: Kathleen O’Neill of Pismo Beach
Re: Support of staff recommendation to continue winter access of Cerro San Luis for
one more season, item #11 on your 11/17/2020 agenda
Date: 11/12/2020
My sincere thanks go out to the SLO City Council for their wise approval in November
2018 of a two-year pilot program for evening access of Cerro San Luis during the winter
months. The restrictions were reasonable, including limiting the number of people each
evening and requiring City-issued permits. In so doing, I believe that the City Council
achieved the right balance between access for fitness, preservation of our open spaces,
and consideration for wildlife. The Council also wisely demonstrated its advocacy of
healthy, active lifestyles, which has always been key to marketing our beautiful Central
Coast to tourists.
The pilot program has recently come to an end, and I suspect that there was no
significant impact to the environment, neighbors or wildlife. However, as staff has not
had sufficient time to assess full impacts, the staff recommendation to the Council is to
extend the pilot project for one more season and to allow staff to report back in April
2021. I full support that recommendation and hope that the Council will eventually allow
winter access with permits permanently.
I represent a group of law-abiding, professional, and mature adults, most of whom can
only hike evenings after work; and we do so for our physical and mental health. Some of
us are serious mountaineers who need to stay fit with uphill climbing all year long. We
come from many careers: veterinarian, Caltrans Executive, air quality specialist, artist,
cellist, microbiologist, chiropractor, author, teacher, health care administrator, non-profit
enrollment specialist, electrician, and sales representative, to name a few. Some of us
have been hiking this peak in the evening year-round on its wide, graded, safe road for
about 30 years until the City prohibited it a few years ago. We deeply appreciate the
Council’s support of the return to winter access in 2018, understanding our desire to
maintain fitness outdoors all year round. We have been good stewards of the
environment and have been sensitive to neighbors and wildlife. We have never caused
any trouble on the peak; nor have we ever needed a rescue.
We are asking that the Council approve extending the pilot project one more season
and hope that eventually there will be permanent winter access to Cerro San Luis. We
have especially appreciated the Council’s willingness to respectfully listen to all opinions
and then to make decisions that are reasonable based on facts. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kathleen O’Neill
Pismo Beach