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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-21-2014 PH2 Vujovich-LaBarre(3)Kremke, Kate From: Mejia, Anthony Sent: Friday, October 31, 2014 5:05 PM To: Kremke, Kate Subject: FW: Letter for City Council Agenda Correspondence for 10/21/14 PH2 Anthony J. Mejia, MMC I City Clerk caly of wNn WI5 ti l?'J "' o 990 Pain, Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93x,01 I.el 180 ,781 /102 From: Mila Vujovich- LaBarre [mailto:milavu @hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, October 31, 2014 4:59 PM To: Mejia, Anthony Subject: Letter for City Council To: Mayor Jan Marx and the San Luis Obispo City Council Members Cc. City of San Luis Obispo Planning Department From: Mila Vujovich -La Barre Date: October 31, 2014 Dear Mayor Marx and San Luis Obispo City Council Members, R. EC -4 F G 5 NOV 0 3 2014 AGENDA CORRESPONDENCE Item# -PH D Since the City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 2014, I have had time to reflect on the monumental possibilities that are now within reach for the residents of San Luis Obispo. Like my good friend Eugene Jud, the award - winning Transportation Engineer on the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, I found this decision "refreshing" and an example of "environmental justice." The courage of Dan Carpenter and Kathy Smith to not vote for the over rule of the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) made a better San Luis Obispo possible. There are no words to thank them for the amount of time they spent meeting with diverse groups throughout town. In addition, Carpenter and Smith did not just "make an appearance" at Planning Commission and Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) meetings where concerns were debated. They watched, listened and asked thought - provoking questions time after time, rather than just accept the LUCE team's word as gospel. It is my hope that everyone on the Council and in the ranks of City government is able to shed any animosity and ego, and now work collaboratively with the public and each other. The Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) — 2035 was exceptionally flawed. Although the committee prided itself on over three dozen public meetings, public forums and more, in reality the concerns of a majority of City residents were not represented in the document. Although I have a lot of respect for many members of the LUCE committee professionally, they were on a committee whose end goal and mandate was to maximize development in San Luis Obispo. Many people never declared a "conflict of interest" based on their profession in the building trades. It seems that some simply had their eyes on the substantial profits that would be theirs, rather than what current residents want. If the dissenting opinion of the three LUCE committee members had been included in the final document, the process would have appeared more transparent to the public. If there would have been additional information about a "Plan B' in the event that this epic drought continues and about the effects of "climate change," I would have been more comfortable. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the LUCE was incomplete, yet it still showed seven Class 1 impacts, "significant and unavoidable" for future residential and commercial growth according to the plan. Air quality would deteriorate, noise would increase, traffic and circulation would become worse and land use conflicts would be exacerbated. Current residents would not benefit - developers would. Before the LUCE process and then through the numerous meetings that I attended, I fully understand the comments and desire for "work force housing." I am still not convinced that the housing that some of you envision will ultimately be affordably priced for members in "the work force." You should meet with local teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses and discuss the matter of "affordability" with them. Due to the fact that I have many friends in the construction industry, I know that one will be hard - pressed in this economy to build multiple houses and the requisite transportation infrastructure and make a profit for an "affordable" price point of $350,000- $400,000. Another error was that the LUCE "circulation element" was developed without a traffic engineer on the committee. The insights of aforementioned and lauded Eugene Jud and his supporters were repeatedly ignored by LUCE committee members. The proverbial "elephant that lives in town" is Prado Road. It was not appropriately dealt with in the LUCE document. The Northern Alignment that anchors Prado Road to Broad Street on the LUCE plan has never had an EIR done on it. It bisects, or divides, the Damon - Garcia Sports Fields and the South Hills Open Space which is poor planning. Prado Road in the final LUCE document as a four -lane truck highway, with round -a -bouts and bike lanes, would not make the proposed new housing desirable along its route. There was not an adequate consideration in the LUCE document of the possibilities for the Northern Alignment once the Chevron remediation is executed. The "flower mounds" will be taken down to a 3% grade and a new vision for access to the already signalized light at Industrial Way or, better yet, to the widened Tank Farm Road at Santa Fe Road, will be possible. Rather than embrace this and other facts, the LUCE team ignored them. Additionally, the traffic study presented at one of the final City Council meetings in regard to the question of whether or not Prado Road should be an "interchange" or an "overpass" used incomplete data. The City professionals illuminated just the numbers of vehicles from the Mangano homes development on Prado Road near South Higuera westward over the highway towards Madonna Road in the analysis. They did not provide a cumulative analysis of the traffic from the homes that would ultimately be coming across from Broad Street and the Marigold area. The Prado Road interchange and overpass appeared at the top of the "wish list" in the final LUCE document. Caltrans has repeatedly said over the years that due to the proximity of Los Osos Valley Road and Madonna Road, an interchange would not be feasible. Although recently Caltrans has submitted comments to the LUCE committee that a Caltrans "exception may be possible," I challenge anyone to head southbound on Highway 101 using the Madonna Road onramp and envision how people exiting at an off ramp at Prado Road south would do so safely and coexist. This is the type of practical foresight and planning that was absent from the LUCE process and final document. Many citizens have asked for a comprehensive EIR of Prado Road for years. I have a very vivid memory of Councilman John Ashbaugh promising me over three years ago that a comprehensive EIR of Prado Road from Broad Street to Madonna Road would be a byproduct of the LUCE study. That promise did not materialize even though I attended numerous LUCE meetings, public forums, San Luis Obispo City Planning Commission meetings and City Council meetings. These types of glaring omissions are some of what made the LUCE document so feeble. Additionally, the airport over rule was one more LUCE byproduct that was ill- conceived. The attempt to predicate a development plan with weeks of work on the hope that a majority of City Council members would be so careless as to overrule the ALUC and the Division of Aeronautics of Caltrans was ludicrous from a layperson's viewpoint. Since you are already in receipt of the copious information from Caltrans Division of Aeronautics and the Airport Land Use Commission addressed primarily to Community Development Director Derek Johnson and City Attorney Christine Detrick, I will not reiterate their data that I agree with. I also found it disappointing that three of the five of you were ready to face potential legal action in an effort to push the LUCE through on its rigid time schedule. Also, I was disheartened that three of the five of you were prepared to put the safety of residents at risk and potentially burden taxpayers fiscally due to liability claims in the event of a disaster. The noise impacts of the "Airport Safety Zone" in the final LUCE primarily focused on the noise from the aircraft. It did not adequately include the noise from the four -lane truck highway known as Prado Road that residents would also be subjected to. Having discussed airport safety zones with members of Caltrans and the ALUC this last month, I am much more impressed with their expertise than that of the people in favor of the over rule on City staff and on the City Council. Lastly, the planning for 131 -acre parcel now known as "San Luis Ranch " - formerly "Dalidio Ranch" needed to be fully vetted. The LUCE document stated that it would "safeguard prime agricultural land" in one section; in another section it was going to permit maximum residential and commercial development on this land. One cannot do both. This land is the highest quality of soil in our County. It cannot be reproduced once it is gone. It seems that if we are truly planning for the health, safety and productivity of the next generation, this parcel of land should be handled with utmost care. In closing, the "right thing" happened Tuesday, October 21, 2014. I continue to extend kudos to Dan Carpenter and Kathy Smith for representing a majority of City voters. This development driven plan for the next 20 years was not allowed to continue "as is." The experience was almost biblical for me. We, as a community, now have time for more analysis and further strategies with the principles of "smart growth" in place and the legal aspects of the planned growth under consideration. Thank you. Sincerely, Mila Vujovich -La Barre 650 Skyline Drive San Luis Obispo, California 93405 Cell: 805- 441 -5818 E -mail: milavughotmail.com