HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/15/2024 Item 6b, Gilmore (2)
Taylor Gilmore <
To:E-mail Council Website; Marx, Jan; Stewart, Erica A; Francis, Emily; Pease, Andy;
Shoresman, Michelle
Subject:Re: October 15th Council Meeting - Agenda Item 6b
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All,
I just wanted to send a note of gratitude for the real consideration of the appeal and conversation around
the appropriate conditions to include in the CUP for Lambda Chi. I know it made for a late night for
everyone, so I wanted to say thank you for hearing the residents and working through the concerns with
City staff.
While it was not material to the individual CUP approval, I also wanted to share my appreciation for
hearing the frustration around Cal Poly’s lack of accountability for their Greek life. I know that Cal Poly is
a valued partner to this community, but the impact their fraternities (especially satellite houses) have
had on the residential neighborhoods has been horrible and has contributed to get worse every year. Cal
Poly’s approach and unwillingness to work proactively with the City has been incredibly disheartening,
so I very much appreciate hearing the candid frustration brought up tonight.
Thank you again,
Taylor Gilmore
On Oct 14, 2024, at 6:51 PM, Taylor Gilmore < wrote:
Council,
I was born in San Luis Obispo and currently live in the Alta Vista neighborhood with my
husband and our two young children. I work full-time from home and teach at Cal Poly.
This neighborhood used to be a vibrant mix of students, professors, and professionals.
With the substantial increase in Greek life at Cal Poly, this neighborhood has become the
"Greek Row" that Cal Poly never planned for and continues to take no responsibility for.
It is impossible to sleep starting on Thursday night and through the weekend due to loud
fraternity parties. Noise travels because of the terrain of the neighborhood and we hear
parties on Foothill even though we live several blocks away in the single-family residential
area.
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Even during the day, during the week, there have been times that I’ve had to stop working
and go find the noise to respectfully ask them to quiet down since I can hear them partying
through my noise cancelling headphones. Every time, it is noise from a frat house. There
have also been times that my husband or I had to get out of bed at night when children
can’t sleep due to a noisy party. Since non-emergency always asks for an address, we’ve
had to go find the party, which is usually at a fraternity house.
Since a fraternity impacts the neighborhood significantly more than a standard college
rental, I agree that conditions should be added to the use permit for the Lambda Chi
fraternity, as requested by the appeal.
1. Do not permit events or parties that will violate the City’s noise ordinance, amplified
music, DJs or live bands.
The bass component of music is especially disturbing. I've found myself feeling
incredibly frustrated, trying to sleep, with the base permeating the walls. I've told
my husband that it feels like Chinese water torture with the contant dripping. The bass of
the music can be heard from a long distance and it even surprises me when I get up and go
outside to try to find the location of the music and it doesn't seem nearly as loud outside.
You really can't imagine how disruptive it is until you have lived near a fraternity.
2. Limit the number of people at the fraternity at night, after 10:00 p.m.
Having 48 people in an area outside will make a lot of noise during a time when people
need to sleep. Limiting occupancy to 24 people is more reasonable. Just the sound of that
many people talking is loud, but when you introduce music, it is much louder.
3. Send the use permit to the Planning Commission for re-review if the fraternity has four
violations of their CUP in twelve months.
Absent a mandated review threshold, there would be no incentive for the fraternity to limit
activities that could lead to violations. Having a threshold holds the fraternity accountable
and does not prevent the city from acting sooner, if they want to do so. The mandated
review is important if the violations stack up to an egregious amount, like four violations of
the CUP in twelve months.
4. Noise citations and the fines for those citations should be attributed to the same
address.
There are six different addresses and for the purpose of the progressive fine structure for
noise citations, citations against any of the six addresses should accumulate against one
address. The students are smart and know how to work the system. They will rotate which
address they give to responding officers to avoid penalties.
5. “Failure to comply with any of the conditions or code requirements, or the conduct of the
use as so to constitute a violation of Federal, State, or local law, or so as to constitute a
public nuisance, or so as to cause adverse impacts on the health, safety, or welfare of
persons in the vicinity of this use is prohibited and may constitute grounds for revocation of
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this permit.”
The appeal points out that this is included in other fraternity CUPs and it seems important
to have as a condition of use.
As a resident who is directly impacted by the many fraternities in the neighborhoods near
Cal Poly's campus, I urge this council to add these reasonable conditions to the CUP.
While Cal Poly continues to increase their enrollment, that will only bring more fraternity
houses. If this CUP is given without any of the above conditions, that means future
fraternity house CUP will also be issued without any conditions. Since San Luis Obispo has
limited housing, it is only a matter of time before these frat houses are more widespread
and start impacting more residents. As you are all elected to represent us residents,
please consider what is in our best interest.
Thank you,
Taylor Gilmore
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