HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/11/2024 Item 4a, Balsamo-Lilien
Joanna Balsamo-Lilien <
To:Advisory Bodies
Cc:Anne Wyatt
Subject:Planning Commission 12/11 Hearing
Attachments:Waterman Village Support Letter 1211 Hearing.docx
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________________________________
Good Morning,
Please find my letter of support for Waterman Village attached for consideration at the 12/11 Planning
Commission meeting.
1
Planning Commission
999 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, 93401
advisorybodies@slocity.org
Re: 466 Dana St. The Waterman Village Dec. 11, 2024
Dear Chair Cooley and Commissioners Flores, Houghton, Jorgensen, Khan,Munoz-Morris and Tolle;
I am writing to express my support for the proposed Waterman Village, located at 466 Dana Street in
San Luis Obispo, and to respectfully request the Planning Commission offer its approval to the project.
Waterman Village will be developed by San Luis Obispo non-profit Smart Share Housing Solutions
(SSHS),and will includes 20 permanent below-market-rate cottage homes, Affordable housing is a
critical issue on the Central Coast, and throughout California. Young families, singles, and independent
seniors can no longer afford to live in San Luis Obispo, and the diversity and vibrancy of our community
are threatened. Waterman Village is part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis. The project has
been recommended, based on adherence to the standards of their respective purviews, by both the
Cultural Heritage Committee and the Architectural Review Commission.
Local housing options in San Luis Obispo should reflect the demand for all types of life. The Waterman
Village offers a unique option for sustainable, community-based, simple living. There is a clear desire
for this housing model in our City. Waterman Village will offer beautiful, centrally located homes for
San Luis Obispo residents of limited means. Residents will have the opportunity to live among a
community and have the option for car-free living with services nearby. The 20 cottage homes will be
built in a style compatible and complementary to the historic Rosa Butron de Canet Adobe, which will
also be renovated as part of the project.
I understand that parking is a local concern, and it has been well considered by Smart Share. The
American Automobile Association (AAA) calculates the average annual cost of car ownership to be
upwards of $12,000. For low-income households, meeting that ticket can prevent meeting other basic
needs and essential payments. For this reason, low-income households have lower levels of car ownership
than other populations. The twenty cottages are likely to house one person each. SSHS predicts about half
of residents to be car owners, as there will be preference for tenants who live car free to the degree
possible. The project includes three on-site parking spots, and would be eligible for two street parking
spaces, accounting for a total of five cars. Any other car owners will have to park off-site. They will have
options, including the Cultural Arts District parking structure (construction currently underway), located
at the corner of Palm, Nipomo, and Monterey Streets, which will offer overnight parking for current and
future downtown residents. With long-term parking passes for this structure, Waterman Village residents
will be able to park and walk the short distance.
Waterman Village will further bring enhanced neighborhood security. Smart Share Housing Solutions’
on-site management and offices and community space inside the rehabilitated Adobe at the heart and
center of the cottages will bring life back to a currently unsecured lot and bring human life back into a
boarded up historic resource, which has been occupied by rodents, garbage and old mattresses for years.
Residents will also be screened and background checked by Smart Share.
As housing prices soar across California, San Luis Obispo residents deserve more opportunities to stay,
connect with our community and have access to personal space and mobility, while maintaining a
reasonable budget to meet all their needs. The development of Waterman Village, centered around the
rehabilitation and opening up of the historic Adobe, provides not only housing, but also opportunity to
community members to access a historic resource which has been sitting empty and boarded up for more
than 30 years.
Thank you in advance for your support of this innovative project that helps us to reach multiple City
goals, from housing and homeless prevention, to energy efficiency and sustainability, to cultural vitality,
equity and inclusion and sustainable mobility.
Sincerely,
Joanna Balsamo-Lilien
Smart Share Board Chair
Atascadero Resident, Affordable Housing Advocate