HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/27/2021 Item 2, Lundquist
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Amanda Lundquist <
PM
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Public Comment for Hearing on Broad Street Gardens
Dear San Luis Obispo Planning Committee,
My name is Amanda Lundquist, I am the gardener of Plot #1 and have been since 2016. Having spent so
much time at this location, I can offer a bit of insight on the proposal for turning Broad Street Community
Garden into a park.
First, because the ramps going onto and off the freeway at this location are shorter, cars use Broad
street to gain speed and as a space to slow down when getting off. As a person that has to cross that street on
a regular basis, I can tell you that it’s a dangerous place to be a pedestrian. Even with the proposed high-
visibility crossings at the intersection, I worry about the safety of families trying to get to the park.
The intersection isn't the main issue though. Drivers like to speed through that stretch of road, treating it
like a drag race. During the 30 minutes I spend there at least 5 cars will have zoomed past, reaching speeds of
around 50 mph or higher.
With the proposal of a playground, I worry that a child will wander too close to that road and get hit.
And with the shortness of the highway ramps, no amount of signs is going to fix that problem. You would have
to shut down those ramps if you want this place to be even remotely safe.
Secondly, there is the issue of the creek. Aside from the drop off banks and poison oak, the creek is
home to a good amount of homeless people. To create a park there is going to increase their interaction with
the public and police.
As it is now, aside from the occasional tool going missing, us gardeners don’t interact with them much.
We coexist, we water our gardens and then leave. Most of them go there to get away from downtown, looking
for stability and to get away from the public, not for trouble. I worry that building a park there is going to create
a lot more negative interactions and will be putting yet another band aid on Slo’s homeless problem instead of
fixing it.
I also wonder about the proposed 9 garden boxes that will replace the gated lots we currently have. If
there isn’t a fence around it, I doubt anyone is going to be able to actually grow anything without it being
protected.
I am all for improvements but turning this community garden into a park is both depriving the public of
something useful and replacing it with something that is going to go to waste. Slo, with the exception of Broad
street, is tight on community garden lots with long waiting lists to get in. When I was looking for a garden lot,
the waitlist for Emerson gardens was around 6 months. I rented at Broad Street, all the way across town,
because it was the only spot that had a space. And there is community interest in this garden, I meet someone
every 2 weeks who is interested in the Broad Street garden and asks how to get a plot.
There are only 4 places in Slo that people can garden, compared to 16 parks. And while the planter
boxes are an attempt to combat the loss of usable space for gardening, it does not replace the potential to
meet the community need that is being lost here. Most people in that neighborhood head a street up to the Slo
Open Space for recreation anyways, so I’m not sure what need this park is filling.
A better use of resources would be to revamp the existing community garden, making it more
welcoming, providing more weed control, and infrastructure for gardeners. Perhaps a grass area and more
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picnic tables, even a bathroom. But a park is not going to be a good use of this space and it seems like a lot of
money and effort for very little payoff.
Those that are hoping to put a park here seem to not understand the physical limitations of this
location. This is not a good spot for a children’s park and would be better suited as an improved and updated
community garden.
Sincerely,
Amanda Lundquist
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