HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/14/2021 Item PC, Santa Lucia Sierra Club
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Santa Lucia Sierra Club <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Sierra Club comment on 2021-23 Financial Plan Process
Re: 2021-23 Financial Plan Process
Dear Mayor Harmon and Councilmembers,
In 2012, the City distributed a detailed survey to 25,000 residents and business owners as part of its General Plan update process.
Survey recipients were asked this question: On a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being less and 5 being more, do you think the city should
provide less, about the same, or more of each of the following services? If you think the city should provide more or less of a certain
service, indicate whether you would be willing to pay more for it or whether you would divert funds from that use to other services.
When staff collated the more than 2,000 responses received, they found that out of all city services, only four service areas were
supported by a majority of respondents, who approved of seeking additional facilities and services: 58% supported acquiring and
maintaining open space for peaks and hillsides, 54% supported acquiring and maintaining more open space land for the city’s
greenbelt, 53% supported more open space land for creeks and marshes, and 50% would like more bike lanes. Further, staff reported,
“Despite support for some services, only a slight majority of respondents said they would support paying more for just two; 54% for
open space for peaks and hillsides, and 52% for open space for the City’s Greenbelt.”
To a survey question seeking input on the most and least important aspects of “quality of life,” respondents overwhelmingly rated
the natural environment (air quality, open space) as having the highest impact on their quality of life (71.1%).
Natural open space was the clear top priority, and those 2,000+ responses from residents and business owners remain to this day the
largest response the City has received from any survey on the subject.
In 2014, “Open space preservation” was the first funding priority listed in the text of Measure G, the City’s sales tax renewal
measure.
In 2015, the City Council’s designation of “Protect and Maintain Open Space” as a Major City Goal and a top priority for the City
resulted in the adoption of an Open Space Maintenance Plan, the hiring of a sufficient number of rangers to patrol and maintain the
City’s natural reserves, enforcement of the Open Space Ordinance in the city’s natural areas, and the convening of a Natural
Resources Roundtable.
In 2017, the City Council dropped open space protection as either a Major City Goal or Other Important Objective for the first time
in more than 20 years.
The results of the 2020 City Survey for Measure G ranked “Preserve open space and natural areas” at #1 (“Final Online Survey
Results,” page 1), duplicating the result of the 2018 sales tax community survey, in which “Preservation of Open Space and Natural
Areas” received the highest percentage in the “Extremely Important” ranking among all City infrastructure projects and services.
SLO’s natural open space reserves are the primary reason for SLO’s famous designation as “one of the happiest cities in the United
States” in the book Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, which pointed to the significant role they play in enhancing the
quality of life for residents.
Now more than ever, the protection and maintenance of the City's natural areas should be a Major City Goal for 2021-23.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment,
Andrew Christie, Director
Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club
P.O. Box 15755
San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(805) 543-8717
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