HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/11/2022 Item 4a, Chapman
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Hanh, Hannah
Sent:Tuesday, May 10, 2022 1:11 PM
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:FW: Comment for Planning Commission RE: 1701 Monterey St Hearing May 11, 2022
Good afternoon,
I am forwarding written correspondence received for USE-0103-2022 (1701 Monterey), scheduled for review
th
on the May 11 Planning Commission hearing.
Thank you,
Hannah
From: Rick Chapman <
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2022 1:05 PM
To: Hanh, Hannah <hhanh@slocity.org>
Subject: Comment for Planning Commission RE: 1701 Monterey St Hearing May 11, 2022
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Hello Hannah,
If you could please add this short email to the packet for the Planning Commission members to read before the 6pm meeting
on the 11th, I’d really appreciate it.
_______________________________
Dear Planning Commissioners,
I am a relatively new resident in SLO, living at 1830 San Luis Drive for the past few years. My family enjoys
the pedestrian lifestyle that our neighborhood, nearby stores, restaurants, cafes and bars offer. So naturally we were excited
to learn of the Hub concept potentially utilizing the building and property at 1701 Monterey Street. The Hub has the potential
to be a great addition to Monterey Street.
With that said, I was astounded to learn that the Community Development Department has deemed the project exempt from
any environmental review (CEQA) or any other specific sound and light impact study because they claim that the “use” of the
property is the “same" as previous tenants. Whatever check boxes that were marked to come to this determination
in their process clearly left out critical details that would likely (and logically) lead to recognizing that the proposed new use
could not be more different than that of the previous tenants - Daylight Gardens outdoor furniture store and before that, the
original Cadillac dealership.
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Assuming that I will not be the only person pointing this out to you, I will spare you from reading another list of comparisons
showing how the Hub project will utilize the property in a totally new way, impacting traffic flow, and simply being a much
greater sound and light “presence” than previous tenants. It's all pretty straightforward and logical.
The Hub is also a master lease>>>tenant sublease business plan. The center of the “Hub” is the owner of Central Coast
Brewing with the master lease and all of the other separately owned businesses, i.e. “the Spokes", are subleasing from CCB
(dba Monterey Street Brewing Company). The way this project/business is set up is very different from the Daylight Gardens
and the Cadillac dealership and thus the use of the land and building will be very different. And over the lifetime of the master
lease, there will most likely be numerous changes of subtenants as businesses thrive or fail within the Hub complex…making
understanding what this project really is and how the property will ultimately be used a bit complicated. Regardless, this
multi-business Hub will certainly be having significantly more vehicular traffic in and out from morning til late at night
(midnight by the time everybody clears out from the variety of indoor and outdoor offerings running til 10 and 11pm).
Daylight Gardens and Cadillac did not have a fraction of the Hub’s potential traffic, nor did they have the very long
hours that the Hub will have. In addition to the innately louder nature of most of the businesses that will be a part of the Hub,
the increased vehicular traffic, car lights, doors slamming etc is going to be profoundly different in terms of sound and light
impact on surrounding neighborhoods and on the animals in the creek.
As a consumer, I am a fan of the Hub and I hope that the idea can properly find its way to fruition. But not requiring any kind
of study for sound, light and environmental impact under the highly questionable label of “same use” gives me great concern
about the operations and process of the Community Development Department in the city I have chosen to grow my family in
for decades to come. I have attended many public hearings in other cities, big and small in CA and NV, and in none of those
places would this project be stamped for approval without a proper sound and light impact review, followed
by recommendations for mitigation. I hope that your process will lead to a similar conclusion.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Rick Chapman
www.rickchapman.com
www.pioneersofcleanenergy.org
415-606-2282
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