HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/11/2024 Item 4a, Byrd
4:36 PM
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Waterman Village support
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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 write in support of and respectfully request the Planning Commision to approve the proposed Waterman
Village, located at 466 Dana Street in San Luis Obispo. Affordable housing is a critical issue on the Central Coast
of California. Young families, singles, and independent seniors can no longer afford to live in San Luis Obispo
comfortably. Waterman Village is part of the solution. It offers a beautiful, centrally located home for San Luis
Obispo residents of limited means, particularly the City’s 1 in 3 single-person households, to live among a
community and have the option for car-free living with services nearby.
Waterman Village includes 20 permanent below-market-rate cottage homes, built on foundations, compatible
and complementary to the historic Rosa Butron de Canet Adobe. 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. As important as providing nice homes for some of our most financially-
challenged citizens may be, I’m equally excited to see the adobe restored and open to the public.
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 for use, 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 for your support of this innovative project that helps get us toward so many City goals, from housing and
homeless prevention, to energy efficiency and sustainability, to cultural vitality, equity and inclusion and
sustainable mobility.
Sincerely,
Michael Byrd
Arroyo Grande, CA
SLOMLByrd@Gmail.com
805-441-5133
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