HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-20-16 ARC Correspondence - Item 4 (Francis)Emily and Clint Francis
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
17 June 2016
Meeting: ARC U11011L0
Item:
San Luis Obispo Architectural Review Commission,
RECEIVED
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
JUN 2 0 2016
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns. We love our neighborhood and plan to spend
the our working lives in this home. We want most of all for any improvements to our neighborhood to
enhance a feeling of neighborliness, connectivity, and to keep in line with the existing structures. We
don't believe this proposed subdivision does any of that. We, Emily and Clint Francis, are the property
owners of 660 Perkins Lane, the only adjacent property to the 2881 Broad Street property. One of us
has attended every meeting about this property from the time Triad acquired it. Due to a funeral, neither
of us can attend this meeting but we have serious concerns about the most recent iteration of the
proposed subdivision. Most pressing of which is the height, character and orientation of the
development, which will be cut-off from and loom over neighbors on Perkins Lane. Here is a list of our
main concerns:
1. The proposed homes are too high and completely out of character with the neighborhood and
surrounding properties.
2. The plan shows zero consideration for neighborhood feel or connectivity. This will be a walled
fortress of expensive homes separated from the neighborhood "Perkins Lane", which is a
modest street filled with one story homes and two 2 -story homes and primarily lower-income
residents.
3. The setback from our property is currently proposed at 10', which is a substantial change from
previously proposed 40+' setback in earlier plans. If the developers really want to build such
monstrous structures, at the very least they could reduce the setback between each proposed
house and increase the setback to our property line so that they loom over one another rather
than our house. Reducing the setback between proposed house to 3' would provide ample
flexibility to accommodate the increased setback proposed here.
4. The proposed configuration of new homes will block our entire viewscape of the mountains to
the east as well as any view north to the north that our Perkins Lane neighbors currently enjoy.
This view is the most desirable part of our backyard experience and a big reason for our
purchase of the home.
5. The new design proposal is much less aesthetically pleasing than previous design, which we
admit was quite nice. Unfortunately, the new design would create an unattractive view from
Perkins and the color block siding facing Broad St is also quite dated.
The previous owners of 2881 Broad St, Jim and Pam Sweeney were fantastic neighbors and interacted
with the tenants and owners of Perkins Lane on a daily basis. They formed the heart of our
neighborhood and families on Perkins have eagerly anticipated the arrival of new occupants of the
property to contribute to the Perkins Lane community. However, under the new proposal, the removal
of access to 2881 Broad (or subdivided parcels) from Perkins Lane would eliminate this connection to
Perkins. Instead, Triad plans to create a fancy new development of giant structures walled off from
Perkins with access only through Stoneridge, a development that has close to zero connectivity to
surrounding neighborhoods. This development, as proposed, would be a destructive force in our
neighborhood.
Proposal: In addition to reducing the height of the new homes to a level reasonable for the
neighborhood, dwellings should also be moved closer to Perkins Lane with access oriented towards
Perkins to maintain the historical precedence of access. These changes would improve keeping the
development inline with the existing structure at 660 Perkins.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions.
Best wishes,
Emily and Clinton Francis