HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/02/2008, PUBLIC COMMENT - My name is Allan Cooper and I reside at 756 Broad Street, San Luis Obispo..
Mr. Mayor and Council Members—with a particular welcome to newly-elected Council
members Jan Marx and John Ashbaugh - I wish to inform you of the findings from a
November 15th Visionary Workshop sponsored by Save Our Downtown. The Community
Room in the City/County Library was filled to capacity. You- Council members- were
all invited as well as members of SLO's advisory bodies, City staff and administrators.
Planning Commissioners and Cultural Heritage Committee members were present as well
as Community Development Director John Mandeville, Senior Staff Planner Pam Ricci
and Council member elect John Ashbaugh. Architects, including Mark Rawson and
George Garcia, were also in attendance. Downtown business owners and the public at
large were invited and present. Former Mayor Kenneth Schwartz, urban planner and Cal
Poly lecturer Vangeli Evangelopolous and eminent architectural historian Bruno Giberti
made presentations to those assembled. The final question that we asked of those 78
participants attending this workshop was: "Identify the key issues critical to Downtown
San Luis Obispo."47 issues were brainstormed and then ranked.
The top ranking issues were as follows: 1) preservation of the authentic and distinctive
architectural character of San Luis Obispo; 2) preservation of a sense of history; 3)
preservation of views of the hills and the Cenros; and, 4)maintaining the small scale,
intimate and compact character of Downtown. This workshop will be aired on Public
Access Channel l sometime in the near future.
Based on these findings, I urge you to discontinue the recent trend of past City Councils
of delisting and demolishing Historic Masterlist Properties, of approving massive projects
with heights exceeding 3 and 4 stories that will block out sunlight and views of the
Morros, and past Councils that systematically ignore the advice and counsel of your hired
consultants and advisory bodies when they recommend against majorprojects that will
inevitably drive out the local, home=grown businesses that give this town its unique
shopping appeal. Thank you for your consideration.
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