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Home My WebLink Aboutcc - Waldron (SLO Naz Church Safe Parking) 9/26/2023 Christian, Kevin From:Christian, Kevin Sent:Tuesday, September 26, 2023 12:03 PM To:wendy waldron Cc:Tway, Timothea (Timmi); Wiberg, Daisy; McClish, Teresa Subject:cc Waldron (SLO Naz Church Safe Parking) Attachments:WAW ltr post 9.21.pdf Wendy, Thank you for reaching out to Council, the Advisory Bodies, and staff with your further comments on the Safe Parking program. While there is currently no pending application with the City of San Luis Obispo for rotating overnight safe parking at the SLO Naz site, we will add you to the interested parties list to be notified should an application be submitted. Any site’s participation in the program will require review and approval by the City, including an additional opportunity for public comment. Kevin Christian Deputy City Clerk City Administration City Clerk's Office 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3218 E kchristi@slocity.org T 805.781.7104 slocity.org Stay connected with the City by signing up for e-notifications Bcc: Council All From: wendy waldron <wawaldron722@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2023 7:00 AM To: doug@slonaz.org; Wiberg, Daisy <dwiberg@slocity.org>; jlahey@capslo.org Cc: Stewart, Erica A <estewart@slocity.org>; Marx, Jan <jmarx@slocity.org>; Tway, Timothea (Timmi) <TTway@slocity.org>; E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>; Advisory Bodies <advisorybodies@slocity.org> Subject: Proposed Rotating Overnight Safe Parking Program at SLO Naz This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. I am a neighbor who lives directly adjacent to the SLO Naz church. I attended the informational meeting regarding the proposed rotating overnight safe parking Program on Wednesday night, 9/20/23. 1 As a resident who will be impacted by the Program, I have a great deal of interest in its successful implementation. As such, I have made observations and suggestions, see attached, that I feel should be incorporated before I can fully support the Program. 2 September 21, 2023 RE: Sept. 20, 2023 Neighborhood Info Session/Proposed Safe Parking Program at the Nazarene Church I have previously provided a letter, dated 9/20/2023, stating my concerns with the proposed Rotating Overnight Safe Parking Program at the SLO Nazarene Church. Since expressing my thoughts in that letter, I attended the Neighborhood Info Session held in the parking lot of the Naz Church, 9/20/2023. The meeting was a good first step to gaining an understanding of the program; it’s strong points and where it needs further development. I appreciated the opportunity to gain further understanding of the program from the three main presenters: Doug Pittam, Jack Lahey and Daisy Wiberg, as well as to listen to comments from the community. It was particularly helpful to meet some of the individuals who have used the City’s Safe Parking program in the past and who may participate in the program proposed at the Naz church. The meeting was deficient, however, in allowing time for concerns to be heard from the impacted residential community. Although, subtle, the meeting held an aura of “us versus them” and combativeness that was not well managed by the facilitators and that kept commenters from fully trusting the format. Hopefully, this will abate in the future as there is much to be learned from all participants and common ground to build upon. Since attending the meeting I would like to offer these observations: 1. There are very different perceptions of who will be using the Safe Parking facility. I came away with a new understanding that many of the users will make every attempt to be respectful, follow the rules and work to make the program a success. I thank you for facilitating that insight. 2. It felt as though both the meeting facilitators and some members of the public were reluctant to believe that there will, additionally, be bad actors and disturbances that will come with the program. Attempts by the impacted residents to clarify their concerns and to get answers were often cut short and distilled by others as NIMBYism. To deny that disturbances will occur or to fail to proactively plan for how to address the disturbances and communicate this to the impacted residents is to set up the program for heartache and failure. 3. It didn’t feel as if there was a true desire to hear from immediate residents nor enough time allowed to get into the details of their concerns for the program, despite the facilitators’ stated goal to hear from them. I urge you take increased care to ensure that all participants feel valued and welcome and that all comments are valid. This program has a potential for great achievement or to devolve into aggressive finger pointing. It serves no one, if the latter occurs. I truly hope for the former. 4. As an impacted resident (I live within 200 feet of the proposed Safe Parking site) I have the following concerns: a. Development of a robust, well understood plan for handling minor and major disturbances. It doesn’t build trust within our neighborhood, nor does it protect the Safe Parking residents, to deny that disturbances will occur. All parties need to clearly understand how to resolve disturbances, who has authority over which topics, who to contact, what the response time will be and more. The lack of a well‐developed and well understood communication plan was a documented weakness of the Safe Parking programs; I refer specifically to documentation in the SLO Grand Jury report. Regardless of the differences between the “Kanshoma” and the Naz sites (different times of usage, different governmental agencies) the need is the same; perhaps even more so, since the Naz site is in a neighborhood. Whether miss‐assigned or not, CAPSLO was implicated in the failure of County’s Safe Parking effort. That is a stigma that requires a robust effort to overcome. A strong show of support for development of a clear and consistent responsibility, enforcement and disturbance response plan, developed in tandem with the neighborhood and response agencies is necessary. September 21, 2023 WWaldron Pg 2/2 b. Development of a neighborhood Communication Plan I understand that a Neighborhood Communication Plan will be developed. And, I guess, I need to do a little more research to understand all that entails. I think it is important that it not be developed in a vacuum, that the neighborhood be included. I wonder if the City could involve the mediation services (which they contract through Wilshire Community Services) to work with the applicant, site manager, city and neighborhood members to hash out the details of this plan? c. Address Increased noise. If you take a few minutes to sit in the Naz parking lot after 10pm, you will find that the neighborhood is exceptionally quiet and peaceful. It is remarkable. And it is a highly valued element of the neighborhood. I understand that Safe Parking residents will need to adhere to the local noise ordinance but I also heard Mr. Lahey say that some residents may arrive late at night (after 11:00 pm was the example he used). Although it may seem minor to people assessing the program, normal “coming home activities” like the banging of vehicle, porta‐potty and dumpster doors and outside conversations have the potential for sleep‐jarring disruption of the nearby residents. +Mediation of noise impacts would be the relocation of the Safe Parking area to the middle tier of the Naz parking lot. This location impacts the fewest residences. It is lower than the upper parking lot and additionally has a berm that attenuates some of the noise from the impacted residents, most of whom live above the parking lot. I suspect that this placement would be slightly disruptive to Naz Church attendees but feel that, since the Naz is spearheading the Program, they need to step up and role model grace in accepting inconveniences too. +A departure time later than 7:00am would minimize noise disruptions to the neighborhood. I don’t think there is a need to empty the parking lot early. Perhaps a departure time could be at 8:00 or 9:00am. + Fewer Safe Parking residents would minimize impacts. Consider limiting the number to 6 or 8 instead of 12. I think it is more important to have a successful first year and build trust so that the program can grow; rather than have difficulties that torpedo the Program right away. d. Address Additional Lighting. In addition to being quiet, the area is dark. The city has installed hooded street lights to provide a darkened area. Neighbors also make sure their lighting is minimized. I understood from the meeting that new lighting would be installed in the Safe Parking site. Additional detail regarding the placement and activation of the lights is needed so that the affected neighborhood is fully informed and can comment. Thank you for taking the time and consideration to undertake the onerous task of developing a successful response to homelessness. Your work is of substantial value to our community. I sincerely hope a program can be developed that has the greatest benefit for all parties. Sincerely, Wendy Waldron wawaldron722@gmail.com