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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-09-2014 PH1 Vujovich-LaBarreChristian, Kevin From: Sent: To: Subject: 12/09/14 PH1 Anthony J. Mejia, MMC I City Clerk C:if:�,- al' SA11 WIS 013 1sp0 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 tel 8oS.781 -7102 COUNCIL MEETIi: t'z 6 -- �( 7�t ty N� ITEM Mejia, Anthony Monday, December 08, 2014 4:56 PM Christian, Kevin FW: For Mayor Marx and City Council PHI - 12/9/14 From: Mila Vujovich- LaBarre [mailto:milavu @hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 4:56 PM To: Mejia, Anthony Subject: For Mayor Marx and City Council PHI - 12/9/14 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: December 8, 2014 Dear Mayor Marx and San Luis Obispo City Council Members, s DEC 08 2014 `a aF Since the City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, I have not lost hope that you will realize the new possibilities that are still within reach for the residents of San Luis Obispo. Please do not vote to override the Aimort Land Use Commission. Please do not approve this version of the Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) — 2035. It has come to my attention that Councilman Rivoire, the publicized "swing vote" has received input this last week from members of the Airport Land Use Commission(ALUC) including alternate Dr. Robert Tefft, Aileen Loe of Caltrans and others. Ideally, he will be able to share his insights with you all prior to the vote tomorrow night. Hopefully you also all had a chance to read the recent article in the SLO Life magazine (Page 60 of Dec /Jan 2015) entitled "Gettin' LUCE with the San Luis Obispo Housing Crisis" by Tom Franciskovich. The special feature illustrates many of my concerns about the development history here in San Luis Obispo including questions about the LUCE task force and options for resolution. It is my hunch that developers and development firms connected with development will be lobbying hard to get this entire matter "over and done with." I do empathize with you as elected officials and hope that you can look into the eyes and consider the hearts of all residents, and not just the select few that stand to make tremendous profits. Hopefully, Dan Rivoire can replicate the previous courage displayed by Dan Carpenter and past City Council member Kathy Smith and not vote for the over rule of the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) at the special meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 9, 2014. In fact, I am hoping that this delay and new information that all of you will decide to not override the ALUC and to not adopt the LUCE — 2035 as it stands. Now that the window for the grant monies has closed, there is still time to revisit what the "good" parts of the document are and revise the ones that are not. There are many diverse groups throughout town that did not have an opportunity to contribute to the document from their respective neighborhoods. This fact was emphasized in the LUCE Minority Report. With a "no" vote you will have time to continue your research and not have to take the LUCE team's word as gospel. The Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) — 2035 is flawed. Although the LUCE committee prided itself publicly on the number of public meetings and forums that were held, in the end, comments that did not jive with the pro- development stance and tone were omitted and not included in the final document by the paid consultant and other City employees. Although I have a lot of respect for many members of the LUCE committee as individuals, they were on a committee to maximize development in San Luis Obispo, according to the parameters of the grant. Many people never declared a "conflict of interest" based on their profession in the building /development trades. It seems that some simply had their eyes on the profits that would be theirs, rather than identify and advocate for what current residents want. I still lament that there is not additional information or language about a "Plan 13' in the event that this epic drought continues and about the effects of "climate change." The LUCE -2035 document also has another conflict in the planning for 131 -acre parcel now known as "San Luis Ranch " - formerly "Dalidio Ranch." The plans for this area need to be fully vetted. It is one of 100 parcels in the County with that quality of soil. 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. The land is also critical for airport safety. Also, the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the LUCE is incomplete, yet got approved as people were rushing towards the end to meet the grant deadline. That motion was in error. The LUCE -2035 showed seven, Class 1 impacts, "significant and unavoidable" for future residential and commercial growth according to the current plan. Air quality will deteriorate, noise will increase, traffic and circulation will become worse and land use conflicts will be intensified. Again, as it stands current residents will not benefit - developers will. With a "no" vote tomorrow night, we will have a chance to take a closer look at better planning. The mantra of "work force housing" and the new publicity- spun phrase of "our chicks need a place to come home to roost" is, in my opinion, just lip service to convince you to chase tax dollars and allow our City to expand. It was finally stated at the last City Council meeting that only 15% of the new homes would have to be "affordable." For the rest, developers will be able to charge what the market will bear. If you meet with local teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses and discuss the matter of "affordability" with them, you will find the affordable price point is at price point of $350,000- $400,000. 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 at this price. My concerns about the circulation element were repeatedly ignored during the LUCE meetings, as were the comments of award - winning Cal Poly professor Eugene Jud. A few of our comments had to deal with the proverbial "elephant that lives in town" - Prado Road. Prado Road 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. It is a four -lane truck highway in the LUCE document, with cars and semi - trucks approximately 35 feet from the actual sports fields where children play. Additionally, Prado Road in the final LUCE document continues as a four -lane truck highway, with round -a- bouts and bike lanes, into the proposed new housing towards Highway 101. This would not be desirable for new residents along its route. Also, the noise from this four -lane truck highway was not adequately factored into the airport noise analysis by Nick Johnson and City staff or in the land use portion of the LUCE. Furthermore, 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. This is a very small section of what may ultimately become a massive road. City staff 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 and the over 800,000 square feet of Chevron commercial development. Furthermore, the analysis did not include the traffic from the roads on the west side of Highway 101 in the Dalidio/ San Luis Ranch area. The Prado Road interchange and overpass appeared at the top of the "wish list' in the final LUCE -2035 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 southbound onramp and envision how people exiting at an off ramp at Prado Road south would do so safely and coexist. Furthermore, if one gets on Highway 101 at Prado northbound and accelerates, the driver would be merging with cars trying to exit at the Madonna Road northbound exit. 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, including me. Part of the reason for this request has been based on the pillars of smart growth and according to "Curtin's California Land Use and Planning Law" it states: "However in Citizens Association the court held that chopping up a large project into many little ones each with a minimal impact on the environment with the use of negative declarations did not comply with CEQA as it would result in overlooking the cumulative environmental consequences which could be disastrous. (Citizens Association, 172 CAL. App. 3d at 151) " 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 make 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 months of work on it with 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. 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. As a City, I firmly believe that we will be confronted with legal action if the override vote takes place and succeeds. A referendum is also under discussion. Also, I firmly believe that if an accident takes place after an override vote that the City would get sued. Finances aside, I do not think that the safety of residents, pilots and travelers should be put at risk. From a smart growth perspective, I also believe in having a viable, expanded airport for purposes of tourism and quality of life for residents on the Central Coast. Having discussed airport safety zones with members of Caltrans, private pilots and the ALUC this last month, it is my understanding that they are forwarding additional comments to you. I am impressed with their expertise and hope that you heed their advice. In closing, please do the "right thing." Say no to the ALUC override. This will ultimately be a "yes" vote to make San Luis Obispo the best it can be. A better, safer development plan for the next 20 years can happen with a few months of meetings. We, as a community, can now have time for more analysis and further strategies with the principles of smart growth in place and the legal aspects of the proposed growth under consideration. Thank you. Sincerely, Mila Vujovich -La Barre 650 Skyline Drive San Luis Obispo, California 93405 Cell: 805- 441 -5818 E -mail: milavu@hotmail.com