HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-15-2015 Item 16 - LakemanFrom: Sandra Lakeman [sandralakeman @gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2015 8:49 PM
To: The Tribune; Ryan Miller; James Lopes; Marx, Jan; Ashbaugh, John; Carpenter, Dan; Christianson,
Carlyn; Dixie Cliff; Diane Brown; Diane Duenow; Elizabeth Thyne; Elisabeth Abrahams; Rivoire, Dan
Subject: APPEAL letter
Please see letter attached below.
Sandra Davis Lakeman
Emeritus Professor of Architecture
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
mailing address:
1677 Foreman Court
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
8055413223
www.sandralakeman.com
RECEIVE
SEP 14 2015
SLO CJTY CLERK
COUNCIL MEETING:' j',2bi5
ITEM NO..-_ i q-
The MAYOR and City Council
City of San Luis Obispo, California
2015
13 September
APPEAL on Planning Commission Decision on 1144 Chorro
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members:
The Planning Commission's acceptance of this enormous drinking
establishment should concern all SLO citizens who care about our
downtown evening atmosphere. Although it would be fun to have an
athletic facility in the center of town - -- do we really want to support
another large -scale "party place ", with over 25,000 square feet filled
with inebriated people and an occupancy limit of 1,118 people ? ??
The City Council would not be having this meeting if the
organization Save Our Downtown had not requested and paid for this
Appeal that allows for a hearing of this project before the City Council
and the Public. Save Our Downtown seeks to protect and promote
the historical character, the contextual design, livability and economic
success of downtown San Luis Obispo
Additionally, the existing atmosphere provided by so many
drinking people has statistically given us ample reasons to avoid
another large drinking place. The California Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board has repeatedly stated that our downtown, compared to
other towns in the State, has an over - concentration of bars, taverns
and alcohol outlets. Our downtown also has a high alcohol - related
crime rate, in particular for aggravated assault, vandalism and RAPE.
The June 6, Tribune article "Reports of Rape, Assaults in SLO, for
2014 were highest in the last decade ", at 44 reported RAPES and
168 Aggravated Assaults. Since 2010 - the number of Assaults has
doubled.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has determined that
there is a direct correlation between increasing crime and the
increasing concentration of alcohol outlets. With a National average
of 39.3 crimes per square mile per year, 91 % of all cities in USA are
safer than SLO with 173 crimes per square mile per year. What is so
sad is that we already have 66 alcohol establishments.
While the 2012 utility bill Survey found that 59% of 2200
respondents sought fewer bars in Downtown SLO, a 2011 Public
Opinion Poll found 60% of residents consider alcohol related crimes
and problems "very serious ". Why are the elected and voluntary
officials of our town not paying attention?
This all brings up the question about WHY are business owners
so attracted to having drinking establishments? One answer puts the
blame onto the owners of the downtown buildings, and that is that
they are charging much too much to rent a space and this has driven
out some attractive retail shops from downtown. But, some business
owners are able to pay the high price for rent by selling alcoholic
drinks, which are very lucrative products. We would like to see
something done about this. The acceptance and placement of so
many drinking places does not allow spaces for enough retail shops
to make our downtown even viable for shopping.
There are many more suitable uses for this site, such as, a
downtown market, an entity that has many times been requested and
is an historical entity in almost any town you visit in Europe. It would
support the farmers' market that we have on Thursday Evenings and
it would daily bring more people into the downtown. In addition, there
could be a gallery of Arts and Crafts shops, which would better
reflect the actual `character' of our small town and the many artists
who choose to live here. This type has been very successful in
Eugene, Oregon at the Fifth Street Market; the galleries in the Pearl
District, Portland, Oregon; or Studios on the Park, Paso Robles. The
bowling alleys could be surrounded with other healthy activities such
as the innovative Makerspace. Imagine the combination of making
innovative, low and high tech arts and crafts with their offerings `for
sale' within a daily Marketplace?
This is the nucleus of the town and this project as proposed is
too large of a scale of bars, loud entertainment in the theater /club and
noise from the bowling alleys and the hundreds of inebriated people.
We request that you deny the project, approve our appeal and
advise the property owner and applicants about more appropriate
uses for the Riley's structure.
Sandra Lakeman
Member of Save Our Downtown
San Luis Obispo, California