Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/16/2018 Item 9, Cooper From:Allan Cooper < To:CityClerk; Gallagher, Carrie; Johnson, Derek; Hill, Robert; E-mail Council Website Subject:Fwd: PILOT PROGRAM FOR WINTER OPEN SPACE HOURS OF USE Attachments:101_13_18...nightbiking.pdf Dear City Clerk - I sent this email to emailcouncil@slocity.org two days ago and it has yet to appear in the City's correspondence file. I'm not even sure if the Council has seen this. Would you kindly help me with this? Thanks! - Allan ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Allan Cooper <allancoope@gmail.com> Date: Sat, Jan 13, 2018 at 3:08 PM Subject: PILOT PROGRAM FOR WINTER OPEN SPACE HOURS OF USE To: "Johnson, Derek" <djohnson@slocity.org>, rhill@slocity.org, emailcouncil@slocity.org Dear Derrick and Bob - Would you kindly forward this document to the City Council in time for them to see it before their January 16, 2018 meeting? Thanks! - Allan 1 To: SLO City Council, Derrick Johnson and Robert Hill Re: Pilot Program For Winter Open Space Hours Of Use From: Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo Date: January 16, 2018 Honorable Mayor and Council Members - I am urging you to request additional information and make changes to the proposed pilot program. 1)You could be making a decision tonight without access to the public comments on the Initial Study (including any responses to these comments) which were submitted to the City up through January 16, 2018. 2)Your Natural Resources Manager, who has sole authority over SLO’s Natural Resources Protection Program, has stated: “Efforts to reduce use during the breeding, nesting, and rearing periods of a year will lessen potential impacts to wildlife.” At the very least, you should consider confining the hours of extended use to November 4th through February 1st (not March 11th). 3)You need to revisit the internet-based permitting system as you are relying on only 7 rangers to enforce this while, at the same time, they are also responsible for overseeing 3,700 acres of open space lands. 4)You need to reconcile your trail etiquette and safety guidelines, which require cyclists to stop and step to the side of the trail as soon as a hiker is approaching, with the fact that, locally and elsewhere, competitive, nighttime mountain biking has become an extreme sport. Based on published case controlled studies and cross sectional surveys of mountain biking injuries, injuries due to inattention and poor visibility increase at night. Either you remove the mountain bikers from this pilot program or you remove the hikers because this is comparable to allowing pedestrians to amble slowly across an active skate board park. The following is my more detailed response to several quotes (in bold type) taken from your staff report followed by my concerns related to these quotes. “The pilot program, therefore, would be implemented under the Parks and Recreation Director’s existing authority to approve additional hours of use pursuant to 12.22.050(B).” “As discussed in the Project Description, the City’s Open Space Ordinance allows for the Parks Director to approve hours of use.” This is, in fact, incorrect. According to Chapter 12.22 “Open Space Regulation”, the Parks & Recreation Department Director has the authority to close open space lands within the current permitted hours of use. There is no mention here of granting the Director authority to approve additional hours of use. (See below) “C. Authority to Close. Any section or part of the city’s open space lands may be declared closed to the public by the (Parks & Recreation) director at any time and for any interval of time, either temporarily or at regular and stated intervals (daily or otherwise), and either entirely or merely to certain uses, as the director finds reasonably necessary.” http://www.codepublishing.com/CA/SanLuisObispo/html/ SanLuisObispo12/SanLuisObispo1222.html#12.22.050 “Trail Etiquette and Safety” - Cyclists Yield to hikers and runner. Stop and step to the side of the trail as soon as you see another user approaching. Riding up to them makes them think you are not going to stop.” This was obviously written for daytime use involving recreational bikers and hikers. However, competitive nighttime mountain biking has become increasingly popular. According to data compiled by the National Institute of Health, downhill mountain biking (DMB) can be considered an extreme sport conveying a high risk of serious injury (see: https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23329619). In the final analysis, mountain biking at night is not only hazardous to wildlife but it is also extremely hazardous to both bikers and hikers. “City staff shall develop an internet-based permitting system in order to ensure that evening use (from one hour after sunset until 8:30 PM) during the pilot program period is kept at or below existing average daily baseline use of 65 individuals.” “Individuals will be required to have evidence that they have the required permit in their possession. Individuals that are stopped by Ranger personnel and do not possess a permit will be subject to citation under municipal code section 12.22.050(B).” How is this possible? Seven City Rangers presently maintain approximately 3,700 acres of open space lands comprised of 15 properties held in open space, natural reserve, ecological reserve, or agricultural reserve status. Rangers engage with hundreds of visitors a week and are constantly educating the public about rules, wildlife plants, trail and more. And yet they are meant to stop individuals on Cerro San Luis who do not possess a permit? “City Administration’s Natural Resources Manager, Bob Hill, concurs with this report.” This is not exactly true. Robert Hill, SLO’s Natural Resources Manager, has overall responsibility for the Natural Resources Protection Program and he stated the following: “Efforts to reduce use during the breeding, nesting, and rearing periods of a year will lessen potential impacts to wildlife.” He goes on to say: “Generally speaking, the time of year that most species are breeding, nesting, and rearing is from February through early September. A range of seasons for some of the species known to or expected to occur are listed below.” The hours of extended use (November 4 - March 11) encroach into the breeding, nesting and rearing periods of the Gray fox, the white-tailed kite, the red-shouldered hawk and the Western screech owl which begins in February and two species of bats (October - February), the mule deer (January - April), and the barn owl (January-November). What Mr. Hill appears to be implying is that these extended hours ideally begin November 4th and end February 1st, not March 11th. What is more concerning is that you will be making a decision tonight based on an Initial Study without having access to the public comments (including any responses to these comments) which were submitted to the City up through January 16, 2018. Thank you for listening!