HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/4/2021 Item 19, Otto
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Garrett Otto <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Parks and Rec Blueprint
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I appreciate the work that went into the Parks and Rec blueprint and generally in support of the concepts and approach.
I have the following comments and suggestions that I hope will be considered as the plan is finalized and
implementation begins.
1. Pool access - I grew up in Davis which had a ton of community pool access. I spent my summers lifeguarding, teaching
swim lessons, playing water polo, and doing swim camps. I spent over 12 hours every day at the pool during the
summers. I have a deep appreciation for community pools. They provide a healthy activity for everyone of all ages. As
you can see from the outreach efforts, there is a large desire for more recreational and family oriented pool access.
Here in SLO pool access is much more limited. I started teaching my son to swim when he was 4 months old. I had to
take time off in the middle of the day to bring him to the pool because there were very limited windows that the pool
was open for anything other than lap swim and aqua aerobics. Those items are important, but I want to make a request
that programming be adjusted to suit more uses, more equitably.
Due to covid restriction access has all but been cut off for me to bring my son to the pool and teach him to swim. Small
numbers of reservable spots are available for family swim time which fill up within moments of opening. Those go away
once swim lessons are planned, so there is little consistency in being able to get my son into our community pool. It has
resulted in me driving out of town to be able to continue to teach my son how to swim. Here are my suggestions for the
plan's pool programming and expansion:
Start to remove Covid restrictions that limit utilization now that people are vaccinated/getting vaccinated and
CDC recommendations for outdoor mask wearing has changed.
Work with the High School to shift some lap swim usage to that pool when the high school teams are not using
it.
Work with Cal Poly to expand lap swim access to SLO residents during the summer when pool usage by students
is lower.
Allocate more pool space for family swim access.
Really consider building a recreational pool at a site like Meadow Park or Emerson park and try and do this faster
than the 10-20 year long range as proposed by the master plan.
2. Bike Park and Pump Tracks - These can be built quickly and cheaply. There are a lot of us in the community that will
volunteer to build these out. We have some great trail builders on staff and within the community that can come up
with the plan pretty quickly and start building them. I would hope that we could even see something put together this
year. Minimal City dollars would be needed beyond using equipment and staff you already have. Volunteers would
supplement person hours to get it built quickly. My ask is that you keep the bike park and pump tracks as a near term
project for both Laguna and Sinsheimer with hopes of starting these soon (like this year!)
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Also, I wanted to express my support for the proposed modifications in the downtown paving plan.
Thanks for considering,
Garrett Otto
SLO Resident
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