HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-16-2026 Pinard (Appreciation and a Continuing Responsibility)
To:E-mail Council Website; Advisory Bodies
Cc:Adian Lenz; Benjamin Winter; Carla Cary; Charles Newel; Gayle Mills; Rosemary Baxter;
David Gurney; Andrea Weinstein; Lee Clark; Jeanne Newell; Ellen Johansing; Mary
Pasek
Subject:Appreciation and a Continuing Responsibility
Parks and Recreations Commission and Planning Commissions
Dear Council Members, Parks & Recreation Commissioners, and Planning Commissioners,
I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what I believe was the appropriate outcome in preserving the
open playing field at Emerson Park. For the many children, teens, and neighborhood families who rely on
that space, the importance of that field may not always be fully visible in staff reports or meeting
discussions, but it is felt every day in the neighborhood itself.
Emerson Park serves as the only flexible playing field within walking distance for the surrounding Old
Town neighborhood. Children practice there, informal teams gather, at-risk teens connected with nearby
Transitions programs spend time there, families from the surrounding Housing Authority apartment
complexes walk over for recreation, and neighbors regularly organize spontaneous pick-up games. It
functions as a true neighborhood commons.
It is also worth remembering that the Old Town neighborhood already falls well below typical park-space
standards relative to its population. In the City’s own descriptions related to the Emerson grant
application, the City identified this neighborhood as being in “critical need” of accessible recreation
space. That reality makes the preservation of the existing field especially important. It is a scarce
recreation resource for the families and young people who live nearby.
Because of that role, Emerson should continue to be understood as a neighborhood park whose primary
purpose is to serve the families and young people who live nearby.
That purpose deserves continued protection. As downtown activity grows, there will always be creeping
pressure to extend events and tourism-related uses into nearby spaces. Neighborhood parks exist for a
different reason, and it is important that those pressures not gradually erode their purpose. City-
sponsored and tourism-oriented events should be located in the larger community parks that are
designed and equipped to accommodate them, and where they would not displace neighborhood
children and families from their everyday recreation space.
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If the Emerson/Old Town field were to be used for events or other activities, that same space would no
longer be available to the neighborhood children who depend on it - the kids kicking balls, running and
playing, the teens finding safe places to gather, and the families who simply walk over for an hour of fresh
air and recreation.
Families in this neighborhood already face many daily pressures, and they do not have paid advocates or
groups with a financial interest in promoting tourism regularly monitoring city proposals. Instead, they
place their trust in their elected representatives to keep neighborhood needs in mind and to safeguard
the limited recreation space that Old Town families depend upon.
The City has expressed a strong commitment to equity in its policies and planning. Applying that
commitment here also means recognizing that Old Town is a place where people live - 24 hours a day,
every day. As the City continues to encourage greater housing density in this area, it becomes even more
important that the families who live here are provided the same basic neighborhood amenities that
residents enjoy in less dense parts of the city.
Families in Old Town place their trust in the Council and commissions to remember that this is a living
neighborhood - not simply an extension of downtown - and to ensure that the basic spaces families rely
on remain protected.
Sincerely,
Peg Pinard
Former Mayor, City of San Luis Obispo
Former County Supervisor | Old Town resident and founder, Old Town Neighborhood Association
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