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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/28/2025 Item 4a, Pinard Peg Pinard < To:Advisory Bodies Subject:Fwd: Historic Resources Inventory and Updates Attachments:Historical Preservation Considerations-2.pdf Attention: Planning Commission and Cultural Heritage Commission 10/27/2025 Re: Historic Resources Inventory and Updates Dear Commission Members and City Council, I haven’t met some of you who are now serving our community, so please let me introduce myself. My name is Peg Pinard and I was a former Council Member and Mayor of our city as well as Chairperson of the SLO County Board of Supervisors. So I know what a difficult job it is to preserve our community's values in the face of an ever-changing environment. My husband, Leo ,and I restored the Myron Angel Home and placed it on the National Register of Historic Places. By establishing the city's first registered Historic District we enabled others to qualify for the Mills Act. We organized the city's first Old Town Neighborhood Association and worked hard to help others navigate the difficulties in dealing with banks that 'red-lined' our neighborhood such that loans were denied, building codes that didn't take the historic-built-structure into account, and yes, even city policies that were counter-productive to the revitalization of our neighborhood. In an effort to engage the city in our preservation effort, Leo was instrumental in the creation of the Cultural Heritage Committee and getting the initial historic resource survey. My point in bringing this up is so that you will understand that we have given quite a bit of our lives to enhancing our community and preserving its incredible assets! And, even though we are so much older now, our love for our community hasn't changed! That's why I am presenting factors most impactful to our historic neighborhood and which are sadly not being meaningfully addressed in this current update. While the document before you addresses some historic issues, it doesn't address major factors that are causing the deterioration of what we have worked so hard to establish and maintain. In a nutshell, the main factor is the lack of coordination among city departments in caring for our neighborhood and “involving residents early in reviewing proposed public and private projects that could have neighborhood impacts, by notifying residents and property owners and holding meetings at convenient times and places within the neighborhoods.” (SLO General Plan: LUE, 2:14:E) Let me give you some examples so you will better understand what I am trying to say: 1) The city did a good job when it came to painting the utility box in front of its own fire station at LOVR/Madonna Rd. A painting of a historically-relevant Dalmatian is appropriate and fits! However, below are pictures of what 1 the city considered a “positive” enhancement in front of a private, family home and gateway to our Historic District. The city failed to apply the same conscientious standard to its historic district. These inappropriate-painted utility boxes remained in place for years! The problem is that there is still nothing that ensures that the art program will be appropriate and sensitive to our residential neighborhood. Just as what was done in front of the fire station, the city had an opportunity to take advantage of site-specific opportunities and be similarly sensitive within our designated Old Town Historic Neighborhood District! Unfortunately, there is little meaningful coordination with residents in our historic neighborhood to prevent this kind of mismatch from happening again! 2) Here is another city action that has added to the deterioration of our historic neighborhood. As sidewalks needed repairing, your residents have been protecting the historic ambience of the district by replacing them with similar 'finishes' to what was being replaced. This was done at their own expense and out of pride and sensitivity to our historic district. Unfortunately, the city did not do the same! As neighbors on our block needed to replace their sidewalks, they matched the historic finishes at their own expense. When the city eventually put in the ‘accessible’ ramps we joined in the effort to replace the entire sidewalk in front of our house as well. Following our neighbor’s examples, we also paid to have the historic finish match the other properties down the block, As you look at this picture know that ALL of the sidewalk you see was poured at the exact same time. But, unfortunately, the city actually stopped the pour and refused to 2 have the same finish be applied to its portion. That's why you have that very 'out-of-character' finish that you now see. The neighborhood was shocked. Just so you know, the city's contractor was also shocked. He couldn’t believe that the city was doing this in front of a Nationally Registered Historic Landmark Home and in a historic neighborhood. He even tried to get the city official to follow-through with the same finish by saying that: "This was a very minor cost and that Paso Robles was even using that colorant and pebble-finish adjacent to its freeway off-ramps!" As a result of the city’s degrading action, when residents had repairs to take care of they said: "If the city doesn't care, then why should I?" And, sure enough, now they don't - as the pictures below show. They no longer match the finishes that they themselves had previously paid for. The city lost an opportunity for supporting its residents in their effort for historic preservation in one of its most prominent historic neighborhoods and, unfortunately, instead, it reinforced the message that the city didn't care. To reiterate, there seems to be little or no real coordination within the city to respect the historical nature of our neighborhood. 3) Our historic neighborhood is again being faced with city decisions that will significantly affect residents, many of whom have worked long and hard to ensure not only our historic character, but also its livability. As housing becomes even more dense, accommodating thousands more residents, their mental health needs become increasingly important. Every mental health study identifies room for active recreation as the #1 priority! Emerson Park is the only playing field within walking distance in our historic neighborhood. It has served our neighborhood’s recreational needs for generations. Yet, the city is planning to take it away and turn a significant part of the playing field into another dog park. While over a million dollars was spent on providing a place for dogs to play at Laguna Lake our neighbors are asking: “Where is the investment in the mental health and recreational needs for our neighborhood’s older children and visitors? They report that they were never told they were going to lose the only open space field area within walking distance where kids can play soccer, softball, etc. 3 There are more areas where city policies/programs/actions have negatively impacted our historic neighborhood and what the city says it values. To residents, the City's words are not matching its actions! My hope is that this Planning Commission, and this City Council do care and that you will take corrective actions before it's too late*. If these negative impacts are allowed to continue then even more of what made San Luis Obispo so special will be lost. Sincerely, Peg Pinard P.S. *In checking with the Park’s Granting agency, changes are possible and can still be made. 4 10/27/2025 Re: Historic Resources Inventory and Updates Dear Commission Members and City Council, I haven’t met some of you who are now serving our community, so please let me introduce myself. My name is Peg Pinard and I was a former Council Member and Mayor of our city as well as Chairperson of the SLO County Board of Supervisors. So I know what a difficult job it is to preserve our community's values in the face of an ever-changing environment. My husband, Leo ,and I restored the Myron Angel Home and placed it on the National Register of Historic Places. By establishing the city's first registered Historic District we enabled others to qualify for the Mills Act. We organized the city's first Old Town Neighborhood Association and worked hard to help others navigate the difficulties in dealing with banks that 'red-lined' our neighborhood such that loans were denied, building codes that didn't take the historic-built-structure into account, and yes, even city policies that were counter-productive to the revitalization of our neighborhood. In an effort to engage the city in our preservation effort, Leo was instrumental in the creation of the Cultural Heritage Committee and getting the initial historic resource survey. My point in bringing this up is so that you will understand that we have given quite a bit of our lives to enhancing our community and preserving its incredible assets! And, even though we are so much older now, our love for our community hasn't changed! That's why I am presenting factors most impactful to our historic neighborhood and which are sadly not being meaningfully addressed in this current update. While the document before you addresses some historic issues, it doesn't address major factors that are causing the deterioration of what we have worked so hard to establish and maintain. In a nutshell, the main factor is the lack of coordination among city departments in caring for our neighborhood and “involving residents early in reviewing proposed public and private projects that could have neighborhood impacts, by notifying residents and property owners and holding meetings at convenient times and places within the neighborhoods.” (SLO General Plan: LUE, 2:14:E) Let me give you some examples so you will better understand what I am trying to say: 1) The city did a good job when it came to painting the utility box in front of its own fire station at LOVR/Madonna Rd. A painting of a historically-relevant Dalmatian is appropriate and fits! However, below are pictures of what the city considered a “positive” enhancement in front of a private, family home and gateway to our Historic District. The city failed to apply the same conscientious standard to its historic district. These inappropriate-painted utility boxes remained in place for years! The problem is that there is still nothing that ensures that the art program will be appropriate and sensitive to our residential neighborhood. Just as what was done in front of the fire station, the city had an opportunity to take advantage of site-specific opportunities and be similarly sensitive within our designated Old Town Historic Neighborhood District! Unfortunately, there is little meaningful coordination with residents in our historic neighborhood to prevent this kind of mismatch from happening again! 2) Here is another city action that has added to the deterioration of our historic neighborhood. As sidewalks needed repairing, your residents have been protecting the historic ambience of the district by replacing them with similar 'finishes' to what was being replaced. This was done at their own expense and out of pride and sensitivity to our historic district. Unfortunately, the city did not do the same! As neighbors on our block needed to replace their sidewalks, they matched the historic finishes at their own expense. When the city eventually put in the ‘accessible’ ramps we joined in the effort to replace the entire sidewalk in front of our house as well. Following our neighbor ’s examples, we also paid to have the historic finish match the other properties down the block, As you look at this picture know that ALL of the sidewalk you see was poured at the exact same time. But, unfortunately, the city actually stopped the pour and refused to have the same finish be applied to its portion. That's why you have that very 'out-of-character' finish that you now see. The neighborhood was shocked. Just so you know, the city's contractor was also shocked. He couldn’t believe that the city was doing this in front of a Nationally Registered Historic Landmark Home and in a historic neighborhood. He even tried to get the city official to follow-through with the same finish by saying that: "This was a very minor cost and that Paso Robles was even using that colorant and pebble-finish adjacent to its freeway off-ramps!" As a result of the city’s degrading action, when residents had repairs to take care of they said: "If the city doesn't care, then why should I?" And, sure enough, now they don't - as the pictures below show. They no longer match the finishes that they themselves had previously paid for. The city lost an opportunity for supporting its residents in their effort for historic preservation in one of its most prominent historic neighborhoods and, unfortunately, instead, it reinforced the message that the city didn't care. To reiterate, there seems to be little or no real coordination within the city to respect the historical nature of our neighborhood. 3) Our historic neighborhood is again being faced with city decisions that will significantly affect residents, many of whom have worked long and hard to ensure not only our historic character, but also its livability. As housing becomes even more dense, accommodating thousands more residents, their mental health needs become increasingly important. Every mental health study identifies room for active recreation as the #1 priority! Emerson Park is the only playing field within walking distance in our historic neighborhood. It has served our neighborhood’s recreational needs for generations. Yet, the city is planning to take it away and turn a significant part of the playing field into another dog park. While over a million dollars was spent on providing a place for dogs to play at Laguna Lake our neighbors are asking: “Where is the investment in the mental health and recreational needs for our neighborhood’s older children and visitors? They report that they were never told they were going to lose the only open space field area within walking distance where kids can play soccer, softball, etc. There are more areas where city policies/programs/actions have negatively impacted our historic neighborhood and what the city says it values. To residents, the City's words are not matching its actions! My hope is that this Planning Commission, and this City Council do care and that you will take corrective actions before it's too late*. If these negative impacts are allowed to continue then even more of what made San Luis Obispo so special will be lost. Sincerely, Peg Pinard P.S. *In checking with the Park’s Granting agency, changes are possible and can still be made.