HomeMy WebLinkAboutExtended Open Space Public Comment, Hodin
Christian, Kevin
From:Russell Hodin <
Sent:Wednesday,
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Change to Open Space Use Requires Study, EIR
Mayor Harmon & Fellow Councilpersons
City of San Luis Obispo, CA
18 October, 2017
Dear Policymakers;
Nightime use of the city’s publicly-accessible open space areas is a change which requires prior study beyond casual
internet searches of other, remote jurisdictions, potentially leading to error of judgement. Just as the original open
space plan required study, including the consideration of impacts to neighborhoods as well as ecosystems, this
expansion of use (nearly doubling access time) also should be studied. Here. In our open spaces.
The city has had a pretty good reputation for studies; it has resources at Cuesta and Cal Poly; it has many green belt
areas to sample from; it has a lot of citizen buy-in as far as maintenance and trail creation (including myself, with
CCCMB). There are so many elements readily available to develop a study. I don’t understand the rush to enact this
change.
Ecosystems don’t “adapt” to human impacts, they change: species move, get replaced by suburban species, the food
chain gets disrupted, plant species change. In short, a cascade of seemingly small changes happen when subjected to
human impacts. Only humans have the facility to successfully adapt to ecosystem changes. I have witnessed firsthand
the changes to just one such open space, Islay Hill, which we have regularly hiked since before the Arbors neighborhood
was built. Yes, it was grazing land, but lightly grazed, and it supported a diversity of wildlife which is no more. No more
burrowing owls, ground squirrels, foxes, gopher snakes or weasels; hillsides becomming choked with coyote brush and
fennel; kites are now rare. I doubt these impacts were quantified when the Arbors plan was developed, but they are
real. Changes to use in an ecosystem have impacts!
Please support studying the impacts of nightime use of open space – before, not after. A limited-scope “trial period” will
lazily slip into permanence and eventually expand to all areas, as it will create an active and expanding user base which
did not exist prior. It is a rather cynical way to push a proposal forward.
Sincerely,
Russell Hodin
1570 Hansen Lane
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 235-0132
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