HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-01-2016 Public Comment, Lichtig - CooperCOUNCIL MEETING: O -S
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To:
Subject:
Maier, John Paul
RE: An Advisory Vote
From: Lichtig, Katie
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 9:02 AM
To: Johnson, Derek; Allan Cooper; Codron, Michael
Cc: Maier, John Paul; Price, Lee; Johnson, Derek
Subject: Re: An Advisory Vote
Allen - I have included the city clerk so this can be placed in the record.
I will note that the council did not direct that this matter be placed on a future agenda.
Regards,
Katie
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On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 8:49 PM -0800, "Allan Cooper"
Honorable Mayor and Council Members -
wrote:
MAR 0 2 2016
Nd
Thank you for the two Imagine Downtown SLO Workshops. It was encouraging to see that most of
those attending the February 27th workshop were in favor of maintaining the prevailing 2-3 story
building heights downtown. Given the general concern about increasing building heights in our
Downtown core, Save Our Downtown is asking you to agendize the following: Place on the November
ballot an advisory vote (NOT an initiative) that would ask the question: "Are you in favor of, or
opposed to, allowing buildings Downtown to exceed 45-50 feet in height?"
It is not often we compare our town with Los Angeles' best planning practices! But we can now learn
from L.A. Like San Luis Obispo, multistory residential buildings going up in Hollywood and other Los
Angeles neighborhoods have been hailed by backers as a way to ease the city's housing crunch
while getting more people to live close to public transit. But increasingly, those projects have also
sparked a backlash from community groups who say those developments are too tall, too big, cause
too much traffic congestion and stray from the city's planning rules. This backlash has resulted in a
Neighborhood Integrity Initiative that will restore the duty of the City to comprehensively plan and pay
for the physical development of the City within the constraints of roadway level -of -service, dwindling
water resources, storm water and sewage system capacity as well as fire and public safety response
time needs.
This initiative would halt parcel -by -parcel building exemptions, enact a temporary, two-year
moratorium on building permits for projects for which the City granted a height exception; and limit a
developer's ability to reduce required parking for building developments. You might be thinking at this
point that there is no way that this initiative could pass. However, this initiative will most likely pass in
November because 72% of Los Angeles residents surveyed last December expressed support for it.
In conclusion, Save Our Downtown and many other concerned citizens oppose 1101 Monterey Street
because it is, in its present form, very much like the projects being opposed by LA neighborhoods.
Please do not change the general plan for a single project and please do not perpetuate the practice
of spot zoning in San Luis Obispo. But even more importantly, listen to your citizens' concerns and,
this November, ask for their input on Downtown building heights. Thank you.
Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo, CA
Secretary Save Our Downtown