HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/6/2018 Item 12, Schmidt (6)
Christian, Kevin
From:Richard Schmidt <slobuild@yahoo.com>
Sent:Sunday, February
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Irons, Monica
Subject:Item 12: Impacts on Neighborhood Viability
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
Pictures might help you understand better than words some of the problems the cycle tracks produce to inhibit our ability
to continue to live in this neighborhood, and the city's abject failure to date to admit these are problems.
I'm looking at this from my perch at the northerly end of the 100 Block of Broad. Others will have their own perches from
which problems may be a tad variant.
Begin with what staff says.
1. Significant undercount of parking to be removed on Broad reported to Council by staff. Staff says 15 total spaces lost
on Broad. Actual count more than twice that, 32. Even by staff's significant under-count, note the parking saturation on
Broad where I live would be 100%. In actuality we'll be 150% overparked.
2. Staff projects slide and explains at public meeting that we have nothing to fear since we will certainly be able to find
parking 1,000 feet from our homes, a mere 5-minute walk, they say.
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3. Staff projects slide and claims there's plenty of parking near my home despite our street being "100% parked."
Nice map, but it's ridiculous.
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• Closest to my house is Serrano. Lower Serrano's already fully parked. Uphill a good bit, there are often a couple of
spaces, but that requires a good steep uphill hike, which is unreasonable. Also, the map shows I can park on portions of
Serrano where there are "no parking" signs, other parts of Serrano and Palomar within a parking district, and on portions
of Palomar that are 100% occupied by Valencia residents (who will be losing parking along Ramona!). Parking on Serrano
and related streets is thus not a viable option.
• Next best is Murray, which is already parked up. Here's what Murray looked like mid-morning last week. Same both
sides.
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• Then there's Benton, which looks like this. To get to Benton parking is a stiff steep uphill from Murray, and there are no
sidewalks. Note parking's so scarce the work truck in center is double parked.
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• Note staff's projection screen map (above) would have you believe there is parking opportunity where there is none -- no
parking zones on Foothill, on Broad north of Ramona, on Ramona, Broad and Chorro where cycle track will eliminate it.
So for staff to claim there are plenty of parking nearby is
A. nonsensical
B. at best forces frail, elderly, disabled and encumbered residents to have to undertake extensive hikes far in excess of
the times staff claims they will take (all of what I've shown in photos would be in the 3-8 minute range from my house).
C. a really great way to INCREASE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS as people circle the neighborhood looking for
parking. How's that fit in with "net zero city?"
4. The park-in-your-driveway myth. You are already aware that some houses have no off-street parking, some have
unusable off-street parking, some have inadequate off-street parking. Here's an example of unusable off-street parking -
- the driveway is very steep and a disabled occupant must park on the street.
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5. Part of neighborhood life is having trades people come to do whatever. Here's how that's inhibited by parking removal.
These are work trucks working at the house they're parked in front of. They were there for months, often had a concrete
truck with pumper added to the group. This parking will be removed. There's no workaround for this common situation via
remote parking.
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6. Deliveries. Some come by small trucks, some by large. This sort of semi is delivery is common. The parking for this one
will be taken away.
So you can see the cycle tracks are incompatible with neighborhood life. Please find a better alternative than parking
removal.
Sincerely,
Richard Schmidt
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