HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/16/2025 Item 6c. Hermann and Hill - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: September 16, 2025
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager
Prepared By: Robert Hill, Sustainability & Natural Resources Official
VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM 6c – LEASE AMENDMENT NO. 3 WITH CITY FARM SLO
Staff received the following questions regarding the draft Lease Amendment with City
Farm SLO that would add an additional 1.5 acres of land to the lease area. The questions
are below with staff’s response shown in italics:
1) Have there been any complaints (e.g., dust, noise) about activities or operations
at the SLO Farm in the last few years?
Staff are not aware of any complaints about activities or operations at City Farm
SLO due to dust or noise or other similar nuisances, either anecdotally through
interactions with community members and neighbors or through a search of
records by the Community Development Department’s Code Enforcement
Division. Because City Farm SLO and its tenants use sustainable, regenerative
farming practices, including no-till or low-till soil conservation practices, issues that
sometimes accompany conventional agriculture such as dust and noise are only
minimally present at this site, if at all.
2) Can staff confirm that the City will retain the “Right to Early Termination” if it is
decided to move forward with the Bob Jones Trail extension or any environmental
enhancement projects on the site?
Yes, all terms and provisions of the original Agricultural Ground Lease (2013), as
amended, remain in full force and effect, to include the “Right to Early Termination”
found at Paragraph 19. To enact this term would require City Council direction and
at least one (1) year’s written notice should Council want to initiate termination of
all or a portion of the lease area in the future to accommodate the Bob Jones Trail
extension or an environmental enhancement project .
Lease Amendment No. 3 with City Farm SLO Page 2
It should be noted, however, that the City Council’s prior approval of Resolution
No. 11043 (2019 Series) formally amended the Bicycle Transportation Plan to
remove the Bob Jones Trail extension through the City Farm SLO site in favor of
other active transportation improvements along Los Osos Valley Road between
Calle Joaquin and Froom Ranch Way (see: Council Agenda Report and Resolution
11043 (2019 Series)). This action also included the adoption of an Addendum to
the Initial Study / Negative Declaration ER 71-13 that was prepared for the Bicycle
Transportation Plan at the time. The Bicycle Transportation Plan has subsequently
been replaced as the Active Transportation Plan (2021) and does not include the
Bob Jones Trail extension through the City Farm SLO site (see page 104, Existing
& Proposed Bicycle Network – Southwest).
Lastly, the City and City Farm SLO recently successfully partnered on a grant -
funded environmental enhancement project known as the Prefumo Creek Riparian
Restoration and Enhancement Project and it is envisioned that this type of work
could continue at the subject 1.5-acre site, as well, should Council approve the
recommended action.
3) Can staff please add street names and other wayfinding to the map in Exhibit A of
Attachment A?
Yes, please see modified Exhibit A map with street names identified and other
wayfinding elements on the following page.
Lease Amendment No. 3 with City Farm SLO Page 3
Access:
Calle Joaquin North