HomeMy WebLinkAbout1-30-2017 ARC Correspondence - Item 1 (Loper)
From: Jloper <
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2017 12:34 PM
To: Advisory Bodies
Subject: Please distribute to ARC members, City Council and Tree Committee mem bers.
First off, let me thank you all for the amount of time you have each put into listening to the extensive input on the 71
Palomar project. I can't imagine that all your projects meet with such interest and involvement. I consider that a sad
aspect. We should all be interested in the preservation of the historical beauty of SLO. I am a life long resident of
SLO — born in the old French hospital and raised on the Cal Poly campus as my dad was an instructor there. I am
saddened to have watched the uniqueness of both the campus and our town slip away to progress and what I see as the
need for change and growth. I consider some of that change based on greed as we put in as much as we can in all
open space. Reading an article from a May 24, 2007 copy of the Tribune, Jean Martin (my second grade teacher)
warned us that if we didn't watch out, our downtown would be lost and I believe that is what has happened over all as
I watch the many many projects underway.
As far as the 71 Palomar property goes and the Sanford House, I see that you are put in a difficult position, preserve
the house and let the owner move forward. I appreciated so much how the anccetect was sent back to redesign. And,
as much as I appreciate their attempt at redesigning, I fail to see how what they did change will truly honor the
Sanford House. I see it, the house, becoming just another old house stuck on a modernized lot. I know the trees are
not a direct part of the deal but they are what adds to the character of the house. Moving the house, removing the trees
and crowding as many people as possible on that lot will forever displace the house as an honored part of our
history. What I found that was so amazing is the full history of that house and how so few people are aware of it. As
a kid, I walked past it through the open space surrounding it before the development of any student housing and had
no idea what it represented. I went there as a teenager when it was a Frat house and was impressed by the interesting
design of the house. But I had no idea of the importance of the people who had designed it and lived in it. I do wish
we had the historical society connnected in on all of this.
I know this project has been redirected to you from the Cultural Heritage Committee and I can only hope that we can
encourage you to driect the plan to once again be revised, reduced or even rejected and encouraged to go elsewhere. I,
of course, would like to see the property open to public use and purchased by the city knowing that there are very few
lots left that could offer what 71 Palomar can offer and I also know that I'll be told that there is no money for
that. Why is that in a town as affluent as SLO we can't pull this off... I hope in your recommendations you will
really emphasize that what is currently planned does not honor the Sanford house and will still over shadow it. And
that the number of people this project will add to our neighborhood will just be too much.
Thank you for your time and interest.
Jackie Loper
(266 Luneta Drive)
Meeting: M --'u 3Q
Item:
RECEIVED
CITY OF SAN L IIIS OBISPO
JAN 2 3 2017
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT