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Home My WebLink About01-27-2016 PC Agenda Correspondence Item 2 (Garth)Meeting: PC ►'27, 201(o Item: 2 x 1 From: David Garth [mailto:dave @dayegarth.coni] Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 11:35 AM - -- • . - To: Ermina Karim Cc: John Ashbaugh; Rivoire, Dan; Marx, Jan; Christianson, Carlyn; Carpenter, Dan; Carloni, Marcus; Johnson, Derek; Pierre Rademaker; Dominic Tartalia Subject: Firestone Downtown Hotel Proposal -- Another Perspective Dear Neighbors, I sincerely hope that before you take any action in response to Bob Lucas' email about the proposed Firestone /Parker mixed -use hotel development downtown that you find out more about it. I personally take great exception to Bob's email, because, however well- intentioned it may be, it's a very slanted, one -sided and incendiary piece that ignores decades of intelligent, thoughtful city planning and visioning. My entire career at the Chamber of Commerce, almost 40 years, was focused on keeping San Luis Obispo's businesses healthy and enhancing San Luis Obispo's quality of life and livability. Those of you who are new to San Luis Obispo might not realize that 40 years ago San Luis Obispo was in a state of stagnation: a new, poorly executed shopping center (Madonna Plaza) seemed to signal the beginning of low density retail and urban sprawl and threatened the very heart of the city, our unique downtown. The downtown itself was in decline with thousands of square feet of vacant retail, and Sears and Penny's, the two largest anchors, preparing to move out. It was about this time that a core group of community leaders (of which I was the young rookie) started meeting together, both informally and on city committees, to discuss the future of our city. We knew that the quality and character of our city depended upon vital, prosperous businesses, especially in retail and tourism, and a balance of a very strong downtown and outlying retail that couldn't be accommodated downtown. These countless meetings over a number of years, led to some of the most progressive and far - reaching plans of any city in California. The "Downtown Concept Plan" was the most visionary. Some of the key points: • Keep San Luis Obispo a mini -urban place, as opposed to just another cookie - cutter suburbia, by combating urban sprawl. • Keep downtown the heart of the city, with not just daytime retail, but with other "social" activities, like restaurants, theaters, nightclubs, coffee houses and community gatherings. • Keep downtown a safe place at night by having mixed use buildings that include housing and tourist facilities. • Encourage increased density and building height in the downtown area, but not allow additional height in other areas. • Expand the boundaries of downtown only slightly to allow for additional, new uses. If you compare San Luis Obispo of today with that of 20 or 30 or 40 years ago, most people will agree it is a much more vital, livable and desirable place now. So here's what wrong with Bob's analysis: • Allowing selected buildings rise to 75 feet in the downtown and in that block has been envisioned for decades. • Right across street, 75 feet height is allowable now, but only under very stringent conditions, including pedestrian amenities, historic preservation, affordable and workforce housing, open space preservation and energy efficient design. In fact, the bar has been set so high that no developer yet has been willing to try to hurdle it. If additional height is not allowed, development will be pushed to the outskirts of town, where it causes sprawl and destroys our open space. • Developers are not the enemy. It's only because of bold, risk - taking developers, who have had faith in the future of our community, that we have the wonderful community that we have. Virtually every building we love in our historic downtown was built by developers. In fact, without the Copelands and Rob Rossi in recent times and others in past times, our downtown and city would have likely declined like so many others around California. • A high quality mixed use development with additional parking needs additional building height to make it financially viable. • There is absolutely no chance of higher, 75 foot buildings being built up Monterey Street. That would negate the very reason for allowing it next to the downtown core. I'm not familiar with the details of the Firestone /Parker proposal. But I do know that. a reactionary, fight against it without all of the facts, is not in the best interest of our city or our neighborhood. Dave GarthDave Garth dave@bdave€ arth.cony 2046 San Luis Dr. San Luis Dr. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805- 441 -8448 =01 1 Begin forwarded message: Andrew Firestone and Jess Parker are now proposing a mega -hotel and another mixed - use building for SLO downtown. It's to go where the Shell Gasoline Station was at the corner of Santa Rosa, Monterey, and Marsh Streets. Two buildings, a 7 -story, 80 -room hotel and 5 -story mixed use building, each will rise 75 feet high. This height violates the current height cap for that zoning area, which is 45 feet. The buildings exceed that cap not by 5% or 10% but by a full 67 %. On Wednesday, the 27th, Firestone and Parker will pitch their concept to the Planning Commission. The link to the Commission Agenda Report is http: / /slocity.org /Home /ShowDocument ?id =9997 In 2014 and 2015, when we fought Firestone and Parker to remove the top floor of the Monterey Hotel across the creek, we lost, largely because the hotel complied, to the inch, with the upper limit allowed in the building zone. Emboldened by their success at operating within the limits of the height law, Firestone and Parker apparently want to test how far they can go beyond the law. Their first test for the new project was on December 7 last year, before a combined meeting of the Cultural Heritage Committee and the Architectural Review Commission. Firestone and Parker got no support for buildings going to 75 feet, but some commissioners did allow that they would consider buildings between 45 and 60'. Firestone and Parker considered this a setback, given how stolidly and solidly ARC had supported them in their bid for the Monterey Hotel. It was even more sobering, when Firestone and Parker recalled that the Planning Commission turned down their request for a land use permit for the Monterey Hotel, voting 6 to 1 against them. But they are giving up; they are going to try before the Planning Commission anyway with the same proposal. But you might ask, since this project is way down town, why should we bother? Because of encroachment. The City's plan for 2035 calls for expanding the SLO downtown upwards along Monterey street -- towards us. If the first building in that movement, starting at Santa Rosa street, is 75 feet high, or even 60 feet high, it will be the yardstick against which "reasonable" will be defined for buildings up to the railroad tracks, and beyond, into our territory. This could make the Monterey Hotel at 45' high seem quaint by comparison when a mega -hotel is proposed to replace Daylight Gardens or the Peach Tree Inn. So we need to fight this. At the combined CHC/ ARC meeting, Save Our Downtown (SOD) supporters came out in large numbers to fight the project. But our neighborhood was only lightly represented. We don't want that to happen again, especially when Firestone and Parker had many more people speaking in favor of this project than ever showed to support the Monterey Hotel. We need to show up Wednesday. We need to be there to say that 45' maximum height is the maximum, and the maximum is plenty, maybe even too much. To help you with letters, emails, talks, talking points, arguments to use with your friends, arguments to use with yourselves, I've attached a letter written by Allan Cooper that covers in great detail the problems with the proposed project. You can use it as a guide to possible comments once you've had a chance to look at the Agenda Report. Please come, bring your friends, write an email, speak at the meeting during the public comment period. It's Wednesday, the 27th 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall. This meeting will be carried live on Charter Cable channel 20. Anyone who wants a ride downtown, please let me know and I will see that you get one. Best wishes, and please let me hear from you, Bob Lucas 4594344