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Home My WebLink About7/28/2021 Item 4a, Schroeter (3) Wilbanks, Megan From:Schroeter Family < To:Van Leeuwen, Kyle; E-mail Council Website Cc:Schroeter Family Subject:Planning Commission Hearing - Comments on Item 4a Attachments:2E021040701_Schroeter Comment to 500 Westmont Meinhold Property Housing Development Habitat Corridor Impacts.pdf This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Attached are comments for Agenda Item 4A: 468/500 WESTMONT AVE (SBDV-0169-2020, EID-0170-2020) REVIEW OF TTM NO. 3157, 23 LOT SUBDIVISION AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW Thank you, Robert Schroeter, PhD 1 Mr. Kyle Van Leeuwen July 28, 2021 Page 1 July 28, 2021 Mr. Kyle Van Leeuwen Associate Planner City of San Luis Obispo 919 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 kvanleeuwen@slocity.org PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING Habitat Corridor Impacts and Project Density - REVIEW OF A TENTATIVE TRACT MAP (TRACT 3157) TO CREATE 23 RESIDENTIAL LOTS ON AN EXISTING 4.98-ACRE SITE WITHIN THE LOW-DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (R-1) ZONE AND MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR 468-500 WESTMONT AVENUE TENTATIVE TRACT MAP – DATED APRIL 2021 (STATE CLEARINGHOUSE NUMBER: 2021040701) Dear Planning Commissioners: The proposed 468-500 Westmont Project, through the addition of 23 homes with possible ADUs and JADUs on a small 5-acre parcel with intact riparian and open space will dramatically change the character of the landscape, alter wildlife use and decrease accessibility of the creek as a corridor for wildlife passage, for all but the most tolerant species. The proposed 23 homes will also, undoubtedly, increase human wildlife interactions. Not many humans will tolerate wood rats and deer foraging on their gardens and snakes and or coyote feeding on their pets. Riparian ecosystems are naturally resilient to perturbations, provide habitat connectivity across the landscape, link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, provide foraging, nesting and resting habitat and the riparian forest itself also creates thermal refugia for wildlife, which are all habitat characteristics that could contribute to survival during a period of climate change, as we are currently experiencing (Seavy et al. 2009). As such, we should conserve these habitats wherever they are found to ensure the health and sustainability of not only the riparian community but also the surrounding ecosystems. The riparian forest located on the Project is intact, healthy, and full of life, as is evident by continuous monitoring that has been conducted at the Project site since May 21, 2021. We should do our best to keep it that way by, at a minimum, setting aside land and creating open space. This can be accomplished by decreasing the project density along the stream riparian. Doing so will decrease negative human vs wildlife interactions (i.e. killing trapping mice, coyote etc..), will increase access of critical water resources found in the perennial pools of Twin Ridges Creek, will provide improved access to a corridor that connects to Cerro San Luis Obispo, and will, as an added bonus of lower home density, also decrease human vs human conflicts along already Mr. Kyle Van Leeuwen July 28, 2021 Page 2 overcrowded roads (Stanford and Cuesta Drive) in neighborhoods that are going to be dramatically transformed into a large loop that may have better emergency vehicle access and escape routes, but will undoubtedly have increased emergency events and neighborhood conflicts and greater vehicle and pedestrian risks. The species listed below have been recorded or visually identified at the site or surmised to be at the site given local occurrence data. Other species are listed as potential species (??) as they were not observed, or surveyed for by KMA in sufficient detail to determine presence or absence. MAMMALS • Mountain Lion (local sightings, presumed to be present) • Coyote • Black Tailed Deer • Racoon • Opossum • Wood Rat (San Diego Wood Rat? Why was it not identified. From the game cameras, they are extremely active and make nightly feeding forays across Twin Ridges Creek and stop to drink in the pools) • Gray Squirrel • Ground Squirrel • Skunk • Gopher BIRDS • Great Horned Owl (visually observed in the large eucalyptus slated for removal) • Screech Owl (audible) • Barn Owl (audible) • Cooper’s Hawk (in the willow and landscape trees) • Red Shouldered Hawk (in the large eucalyptus and redwood) • Golden Eagle (flying above the project where it interacted with the red shouldered hawk) • Black Phoebe • Hooded Oriole • Nutall’s Woodpecker • Scrub Jay • Northern Mockingbird • Several Hummingbird species • Turkey • Crow • California Quail • Mourning Dove • Many Ground Birds • Numerous Sparrow spp. • Mallard INVERTEBRATES • Monarch Butterfly • Numerous Bumble Bee species (Crotch bumblebee??) • Numerous species of aquatic insects • An unidentified snail occurs in the creek both in the culvert pool and upstr eam on West Fork Twin Ridges Creek (species? Is it the San Luis Obispo Pyrg?? Or other sensitive species?) AMPHIBIANS • Slender Salamander • Tree Frog • Bull Frog Mr. Kyle Van Leeuwen July 28, 2021 Page 3 • Red Legged Frog (not observed)?? • Arboreal Salamander (not observed)?? REPTILES • California King Snake • Alligator Lizard • Western Fence Lizard • *Legless Lizard (not observed)?? Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Initial Study. If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact me via email at schroeters617@gmail.com. Sincerely, Robert Schroeter 617 Jeffrey Drive, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 cc: (via email) Governor’s Office of Planning and Research State Clearinghouse State.Clearinghouse@opr.ca.gov