HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-25-2014 th bishopMarch 25, 2014
To: Mayor Marx, City Council Members and Fellow Residents
I MAR 2 4 2014
j AGENDA
CORRE ' FPONDENCE -'
Date_ "s'_ Item # LL'
From: Roger and Linda Bishop
100 Henderson Ave, San Luis Obispo (at the corner of Slack and Henderson)
Dear Friends:
We are unable to attend the Town Hall meeting this evening due to a previously planned vacation
during Cal Poly's Spring Break.
We wish to take this opportunity, however, to thank the Mayor, the City Council and the city staff, for
providing this opportunity for San Luis Obispo residents to voice their concerns regarding Cal Poly's
proposed Freshman Dorm complex at the corner of Slack and Grand Ave. Others here tonight will
undoubtedly point out the many problems presented by the project and the deficiencies in the current
DEIR that has been submitted by the University, among them:
1. Disregard of the impact of the project on the intersection of Grand Ave. and Slack Street.
2. Disregard for the impact of the project on the Grand Ave. /Highway 101 interchange.
3. What focus there is on traffic in the DEIR being directed primarily at motor vehicle traffic with
little regard for the impact of 1,425 pedestrians, bicycle riders and skateboarders on Slack St.,
Grand Ave. and surrounding neighborhoods.
4. Noise, construction traffic and air quality effects during three years of construction.
5. Impact upon the new Teach School to be located at the old Pacheco School site.
6. Elimination of the view -shed of our lovely hills, both East and West from Grand Ave.
And finally,
7. Elimination of any open "buffer" zone between the Cal Poly core and its supporting structures
and the residential neighborhoods adjacent to it.
We wish to instead address our concerns regarding the financial impact of the project on the City of San
Luis Obispo as a whole. Some Council members have recused themselves or "thrown up their hands"
stating that they, as a Council, have no authority over what Cal Poly does within its boundaries and that
any effort is a "waste of time ". This smacks of fear or laziness, and is far from reality.
California's Environmental Quality Act and supporting court cases state plainly that public entities,
including Universities, have an obligation to mitigate their impact on the surrounding communities. At a
minimum, the city should demand concessions and compensation for the added costs of:
1. Increased city (not campus) police to patrol neighborhoods.
2. Upgrades in fire protection services, including any new equipment required.
3. Expansion of hospital and emergency -room facilities and ambulance response.
4. Traffic control, signals and lighting on affected streets and intersections.
5. Protective barriers to channel pedestrians and prevent jaywalking and erosion of the hillside
adjacent to Slack St. as students seek shortcuts to downtown across Slack St. and through
neighborhoods and the Teach School campus.
6. Reasonable hours of construction and the attendant back -up bells that we will be listening to for
three years.
The University contends that this project will not increase enrollment, but instead relieves
neighborhoods by moving students on to campus. This is misleading at best. By design, this will be a
freshman dorm, occupied by students not yet here. Any migration of students from adjacent
neighborhoods onto campus will be offset by other students moving from outlying cities and
neighborhoods into vacancies closer to the University. The result will be a net 1,425 increase in the
concentration of residents in this area.
This project represents the tip of the iceberg that will become evident as Cal Poly seeks to increase its
enrollment by 5,000 students in the near future. The University has an obligation to mitigate the impact
of this growth on the City of San Luis Obispo. The time is now for our elected City Council to begin
demanding the social and financial concessions necessary to prevent the costs of this expansion from
falling on the residents and taxpayers of San Luis Obispo.
The community is speaking out. Please listen and direct a strong response to the DEIR now before us.
Thank you,
Roger and Linda Bishop