HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/1/2025 Item 8a, Feaster
steven feaster <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Broadstone Village public comment
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Regarding city council meeting:
Tuesday, April 01, 2025
Item 8.a
Dear City Council,
I understand the city’s goals to meet state housing requirements and improve traffic flow, but the project
as proposed prioritizes scale and developer profits over neighborhood compatibility and meaningful
traffic solutions.
Upzoning this area to R4 to allow 400+ high-density units would dramatically alter the character of the
neighborhood. The parcels surrounding Los Verdes Park 1 & 2 are currently zoned R1 and R2, and even a
2020 city planning session recommended that the lot west of LVP2 be upzoned only to R3 suitable for up
to 109 units — not the 200+ now proposed. This represents a significant departure from previous
planning guidance.
The project would bring a substantial increase in traffic to an already congested area, especially at the
LOVR/South Higuera intersection. Parking is also a major concern, as the project appears to
underestimate the number of vehicles it will generate.
One of the most troubling aspects is the annexation and proposed bypass road. While it’s being
promoted as a solution to the LOVR/South Higuera congestion, it raises a range of serious concerns:
It would be built in a flood-prone zone, with long-term maintenance costs for taxpayers.
Located just dozens of feet from homes already impacted by freeway noise, this busy road would
add even more noise and pollution.
It cuts through farmland protected by a conservation easement and runs alongside SLO Creek.
It extends an underused and known unsafe bike path between LOVR and Prado, raising safety
concerns for residents.
It paves the way for future development of newly annexed land, which would further intensify all of
the above issues — even if not acknowledged now.
Most critically, the road does not actually fix the traffic issues at LOVR and South Higuera. The plan
highlights a 20% traffic reduction — roughly 3,500 cars per day — but this is misleading. That reduction
would come from directions that aren’t responsible for the main congestion. The real bottleneck is traffic
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coming from and going to the north (Tank Farm area), not the south (Buckley), so reducing southern
traffic won’t solve the actual problem.
In the end, the city would spend significant taxpayer money — including funds currently earmarked for
LOVR/South Higuera intersection improvements — on a road that doesn’t solve the problem and
primarily benefits the developer’s ability to sell more units. And the city will still need to fix the
intersection anyway, costing taxpayers even more.
To make matters worse, the proposed new stoplight for the bypass would sit just 600 feet from the
freeway off-ramp light on LOVR, with several more nearby. Anyone who drives this route regularly knows
this would only add to congestion and frustration, not relieve it.
I urge the Council to reject this plan and pursue solutions that truly address our transportation and
housing needs — not ones that sound good on paper but make things worse for residents, waste public
money, and serve the developer more than the community.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Steven Feaster
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