HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/6/2021 Item PC, Pinard
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Peg Pinard <
To:CityClerk; Harmon, Heidi; Stewart, Erica A; Christianson, Carlyn; Marx, Jan; Pease, Andy;
Johnson, Derek
Cc:Avakian, Greg; Dave Congalton; Tribune; Alex Mintzer
Subject:Need to make “Protection of Open Space” a Major City Goal Again
February 5, 2021
San Luis Obispo City Council Feb. 6, 2021 Goal Setting Meeting
Re: Need to make “Protection of Open Space” a Major City Goal Again
Attention: San Luis Obispo City Council
As a former Mayor and City Councilmember, I watch with great interest when the SLO City Council sets the City’s “Major
City Goals and Other Important Objectives” every two years. Why? Because this single action determines if the priorities of
City residents will become the priorities of their City government.
City residents have consistently rated “ Protection of Open Space” as a very highest priority. This was a very highest priority in
the City’s massive survey of City residents for its 2014 Land Use & Circulation Element update. More recently, “Preservation of
Open Space” was rated as the highest priority of City residents in the City’s 2018 consultant survey, and then again as
the highest priority in the City’s 2020 consultant survey. This shouldn’t surprise anyone as SLO residents have always
expressed the need to make sure that we protect the magnificent wildlife of our City’s Open Spaces as well as having a place
for our own enjoyment of the natural environment.
And past City Councils have consistently honored the will of City residents by making “Protection of Open Space” a “Major City
Goal or other Important Objective”. But something very different happened beginning with the City’s 2017-2019 City
Goal Setting; “Protection of Open Space” was completely and inexplicably dumped as a “Major City Goal or other
important objective”. “Protection of Open Space” was again dumped as a City goal for 2019-2021, only referencing it in a
subcategory of the Council’s goal of “Climate Action”, mentioning it only for the narrow purpose of its botanical carbon
sequestration.
Why is there such a disconnect? Why isn’t what so many residents told you in those expensive surveys also honored in
the Council’s goal setting? This disconnect between City resident priorities and Council’s goals is important because there
are consequences. It is important to note that when the City adopts “Protection of Open Space” as a City goal, new
“work programs” are required to be explored and adopted to strengthen the protection of Open Space. For example, the
City’s 2006 Conservation and Open Space Element states that, “The City may form an Open Space Committee to advise staff
on open space acquisition and management”. The City has a “Parks and Recreation Commission” to “review and make
recommendations for changes which could have an impact on the City’s parks and park facilities” , and the absence of an
“Open Space Committee” to do the same for Open Spaces/Natural reserves is a glaring omission.
It is also critical to point out that “Protection” and “Maintenance” of open spaces are not the same thing, but the words
keep being used as though they were interchangeable. While the “acquisition” and “maintenance” of Open Space is
well documented and has become institutionalized, it is important to acknowledge that a very, very large part of
“maintenance” is to “support passive recreation” - not “Protection of Open Space”.
When each of you ran for office, I’m pretty sure that none of you told City voters that you were going to dump the City’s
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long standing goal of protecting the City’s Open Spaces .
The lesson is simple. “Protection of Open Space”(including its wildlife) continues to be a very highest priority of City
residents and deserves to be reinstated and honored as such, having the full benefits, protection, and acknowledgement of
being a “City goal”. Please reinstate “Protection of Open Space” as a major City goal.
Sincerely,
Peg Pinard
Former Mayor, City of San Luis Obispo
Chairperson, San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors
Founder, Old Town Neighborhood Association
Footnotes:
1. I would also ask that you reinstate the City’s long-standing practice of disclosing individual Council votes.
“Transparency” isn’t just a word of convenience, it’s what the voters depend on when trying to assess the performance of
each council member come the next election. Just reporting an “aggregate” is not being honest with the voters. To truly
honor the democratic process and the public’s right to know, it is very important that the list of each councilmember's
priorities are listed and the subsequent individual council member’s votes are recorded.
2. General Plan : The primary purpose of Open space is protection of natural resources, including wildlife and their habitats. A
secondary purpose of Open Space is specified types of “passive” recreation that is permitted in designated areas of
Natural Reserves/Open Space if this passive recreation does not degrade the natural resources being protected or create
conflicts with neighborhoods. ( 2006 Conservation & Open Space Element, including Appendix C, The Management of Open
Space Lands). Open Space are NOT “Parks”.
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