HomeMy WebLinkAbout06_28-29_2017 PC Correspondence - Avila Ranch (Dell)
From:
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2017 9:37 AM RECEIVED
To: Davidson, Doug; Advisory Bodies CITY OF SAN LUIS OE31SP0
Subject: Avila Ranch project concerns
JUN 2 9 2017
Good day Mr. Davidson and Members of the Planning Commission, I COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
I am writing to document my objection to any further proceeding of the Avila Ranch Project
While I appreciate the design of the site, and certainly recognize the need for affordable housing in the community, I see
several areas of concern that to date I have not seen addressed in a reasonable way;
1— Traffic;
Buckley road is already dangerous as it is.
There are three significant blind spots for traffic traveling on Buckley road, in that (at present speeds of 50+ MPH) there is not
an opportunity to properly see traffic entering from the south side of Buckley road from Jesperson, Davenport Creek road,
Mello Ln, Hidden Springs road and Thread lane in time to respond.
The entry is even more hazardous for trucks and trailers, as they take a minimum of 10-12 seconds to safely enter the road,
and even longer if they are required to slow down due to livestock in the trailers.
These same blind spots place a very significant risk to bicyclists and pedestrians on the road as well.
There is also no proper provision for the traffic of agricultural vehicles traveling on Buckley road. When I moved here people
would even ride their horses down the side of Buckley road, but to attempt that now with the current traffic level would be
impossible.
These current issues will be further compounded by the traffic associated with the Avila Ranch project which is estimated to
more than double to over 9000 cars per day once the project is complete, and the extension of Buckley Road to Higuera Street
is complete.
If you want visual evidence of the problem as it currently exists, just go to the corner of Buckley road and Hwy 227 at 5 PM on a
weekday.
The mitigation's I have seen described regarding traffic for this project are only a minor widening of Buckley road in the area of
the Avila Ranch property itself. It seams unreasonable to me that one could think widening one part of Buckley road, but not
the entire road, can solve the increased traffic and in fact it could make it worse by creating congestion points.
Even if the entirety of Buckley road were to be widened you would still be ruining the agricultural character of the area, as
anyone with a rural or agricultural pursuit would be discouraged because of the traffic dangers and congestion.
To summarize;
The current situation is bad, and creates significant risks to
the agricultural traffic and those of us entering Buckley road from its south side as it is.
To add the traffic from the Avila Ranch project compounds
those problems substantially.
The rural boundary Buckley road offers the city would be
destroyed
2 —The southern boarder of the property is in a significant flood zone. No amount cleaning out creek beds, etc. will mitigate
the water levels that accumulate to over 2 feet in depth over Buckley/Vachel roads during winter storms — making the roads
impassable. The problem is downstream on the opposite side of the road and cannot be mitigated completely by any efforts
on the Avila property by itself.
3 —The changes to the character of the area will have a direct and negative effect of those of us living and working on the
southern aspect of Buckley road.
4 - As an employee of The Equine Center, I fear my job is at risk as people will be discouraged from using us as it will no longer
be safe to pull a horse trailer onto Buckley with that amount of traffic.
Hopefully you can see this puts local jobs in danger, in addition to changing the rural character of the green belt buffer area
those of living to the south of Buckley road provide to the SLO community.
I request that this email be added to all appropriate files and records regarding the Avila Ranch project, and also that it is
individually provided to the members of the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission.
Please confirm receipt of this email, and your ability to comply.
Sincerely,
Kristin Dell
Office Manager
The Equine Center
4850 Davenport Creek Road
San Luis Obispo, CA. 93401
USA
805-541-6367, Fax 1-805-549-9237
www.theequinecenter.com