HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/17/2022 Item 4a, West
Wilbanks, Megan
From:sara west <hiho989@yahoo.com>
Sent:Sunday, October 16, 2022 2:15 PM
To:Advisory Bodies
Cc:Stewart, Erica A; Christianson, Carlyn; Marx, Jan; Pease, Andy; Shoresman, Michelle;
Bell, Kyle
Subject:ARCH-0020-2022 & AFFH-0021-2022
This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond.
These comments are intended for the Monday, 10/17/2022 meeting of the ARC
Application: 1422 and 1480 Monterey Street, SLO
1. One week is not sufficient notice for an ARC hearing.
2. The Notice should include this email address for comments. Many people cannot attend
meetings at 5pm on a work night. The notice card should provide your email.
3. All requested exceptions should be denied. The scale of this project is not compatible with the
Community Design Guidelines. The massing and scale of this project is not at all appropriate to the
neighborhood. This behemoth will tower over everything, obstructing views from every home behind
it. See Section B3, C2, C5, 2.1A, 2.2A, 3.1A1, 3.1 B2b,3.1 B2c, 3.1 C1c,1d, C2f, 5.2E2a &2c,
5.4A1.
4. This project will endanger students who travel through the intersection of Monterey and California
to attend SLOHS. This intersection is already hazardous. There are always parents racing to school
trying to get their tardy children to school on time. There are bicycles flying down California. There
are pedestrians complicating the traffic that is further congested by people trying to get to work. This
intersection should be a major concern.
5. The Tree Committee allowed 54 trees to be removed and replaced with smaller trees. The
committee meeting was cancelled and then rescheduled on a federal holiday. Mature trees are an
incredible asset given climate change. The large redwood tree is struggling, but if it were actually
watered it could easily be saved. That tree and the area behind the Spiegel residence, who have
lived there since the early 1970's, should be preserved as a park area for the low-income
children. The large silk oak trees should also be preserved to provide a screen for the railroad
tracks. Those trees were big when I moved here in 1981. It will take decades for a newly planted
tree to provide that level of shade and tranquility.
6. Allowing egress and ingress on Palm Street for the parking structure is effectively a taking of
property: interference with the use or enjoyment of private property. I have lived on a dead-end street
1
for 42 years for a reason. It is a reasonable expectation that this dead-end street would remain a
quiet cul-de-sac. If the sole access for the parking garages is thru the R-2 residential lots, it is
effectively putting a large parking area on the R-2 lot. If the City of SLO deems this an appropriate
use, I will be forced from the home I have spent my entire adult life perfecting. Access to the
parking structure should be from Monterey Street, not Palm Street.
7. Everyone I have discussed this project with says it is a done deal since it is a HASLO
project. Low income and senior housing is a good thing, but not at the expense of the
community. SLO City employees and elected officials should not acquiesce their better
judgement to approve the requested exceptions/waivers for this project. Their duty is to protect
the best interests of the community.
Sincerely,
Sara West
1420 Palm Street, SLO
805-602-8412
2