HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-14-2017 CHC Correspondence - Item 1 (Grady)
From: John Grady <
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 3:48 PM
To: Advisory Bodies
Subject: CHC Mtg - August 14 - 1027 Nipomo Street Project
Dear CHC Members:
RECEIVED
CITY OF SAN LUIS ORISPO
AUG 1 1 2017
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
am writing to express my concerns and opposition to the project proposed for 1027 Nipomo Street that
you will be considering on August 14, 2017. 1 have numerous concerns with this project.
1. The proposed structure is too high - 4 stories and 50 feet tall. Regardless of upper story setbacks, 50
feet is 50 feet! Such a height would obstruct views of Cerro San Luis and the adjacent morros. Such a
height would also dwarf the adjacent single story Ciopinot's Restaurant, the single and two story structures
in the Creamery, and the nearby two story Soda Works building.
2. Downtown Historic Guidelines call for mostly one and two story structures, with an occasional three
story building. I strongly believe this site is best suited for a two story structure, but at most a three story
building with setbacks on the upper floors.
3. If I understand the proposal, it asks for a 47 room hotel with parking for 22 cars. Can this be right? I
don't know about you, but when I stay in a hotel I usually have gotten there via automobile. So at a
minimum, this 47 room hotel should be required to provide 47 parking spots, plus parking for its employees,
for the retail businesses it proposes, plus parking for the spots that now exist on this site for patrons of the
Creamery and Ciopinot's. Perhaps it needs 60 parking spaces - nearly three times what is being
proposed. Whenever I have driven onto this parking lot, a parking spot is quite hard to come by. It defies
logic that you would even consider allowing the removal of this parking lot and its replacement with a 47
room hotel with parking spots for only 22 cars. Where will the hotel guests park their cars? Where will the
retail patrons for the new businesses park their cars?
I know projects sometimes allow diminished parking spots by allowing developers to pay'in lieu' fees. I see
no mention of such fees here, but regardless, such fees are meaningless anyway. Fees will not solve
one's parking dilemma when staying at this hotel. In lieu fees are never a solution to inadequate parking.
4. 1 believe we already have two or perhaps three hotels under construction in the downtown core, with
plans by the Granda Hotel to expand. Do we really need another downtown hotel? Is this the best use of
what could better be a retail or entertainment type structure near our downtown? I can envision much more
appropriate uses of this spot for the benefit of locals and tourists alike.
urge you reject staffs recommendation to approve this project and forward it along to the ARC. Instead,
urge you deny the project, finding it inconsistent with the City's Historic Preservation Program Guidelines.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Grady
San Luis Obispo, CA