HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-20-16 ARC Correspondence - Item 1 (Central Coast Grown).,04 %;Ve��rz
CENTRAL
COAST
GROWN
June 19 2016
To members of the ARC:
RECEIVED
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
JUN 2 0 2016
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Meeting: e �0I Lp
Item: J,
Thankyou for considering this comment on the Calle Joaquin project, now before the
Commission for the fourth time.
On behalf of Central Coast Grown, the non-profit manager of the Calle Joaquin
Agricultural Reserve owned by the City of San Luis Obispo, we appreciate your previous
findings that the proposed project is out of scale for its site and that it should be reduced
in height to no more than three stories.
We are disappointed that in its present resubmittal the applicant did not comply with the
condition you set, and we are gratified that the City Staff Report acknowledges that it
must be met as a prerequisite for approval of the project.
We would like to refer you to pages 4-10 of Attachment 6 of the present Staff Report,
which include images collaboratively produced by Central Coast Grown and the
applicant and submitted before the May 2016 meeting of the Commission. These images
provide a graphic representation of the impact of a four story building on the
neighboring City Farm, in particular on the area near the entrance of the Preserve. This
location is the site of our long -planned Farm Stand and community gathering area, which
has been inaccessible for a year due to the freeway temporary offramp. We expect to
build and have the Farm Stand in operation by Fall 2016.
We believe that the applicant's claim that "the range of buildings seen from the site
include ... a hotel (4 stories in height) to the north" is misleading. The Embassy Suites
Hotel referred to here is far enough away to have negligible impact on the site and also
on the viewshed from the Freeway. No neighboring existing or proposed buildings are
higher than two stories.
Indeed, we agree with the applicant's observation that "Whether the proposed hotel is
three stories or four stories, it will impact the views to the distant hills from Highway
101...." We therefore suggest that reducing its height to that of the neighboring
buildings would be more in keeping with Community Guidelines.
Our remaining concern with the Staff Report is the recommendation of approval of the
project before the conditions have actually been met. Given the fact that the applicant
CENTRAL COAST AG NETWORK, dba CENTRAL COAST GROWN
P.O. Box 3736 San Luis Obispo, CA 93403 • 805.769.8344 • centralcoastgrown.org
did not comply with the ARC requirements in this submittal, we believe it would be
prudent for the Commission and the public to be able to review any revised plans before
such approval goes forward.
Sincerely,
Steven Marx, President
Wendy Brown, Treasurer
Central Coast Grown
CENTRAL COAST AG NETWORK, dba CENTRAL COAST GROWN
P.O. Box 3736 San Luis Obispo, CA 93403 • 805.769.8344 • centralcoastgrown.org