HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-12-2018 Item 1 - Cooper (2)
Purrington, Teresa
From:Allan Cooper <allancoope@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, February
To:rcohn@slocity.org; Advisory Bodies; CityClerk
Subject:1575 Monterey Street - Los Padres Inn
Dear Rachel -
Would you kindly forward the letter below to the ARC
before their meeting today? Thanks!
- Allan
To: SLO Architectural Review Commission
Re: 1575 Monterey Street
From: Allan Cooper, Secretary Save Our Downtown
Date: February 12, 2018
Honorable Chair Wynn and Commissioners -
Staff is directing you to discuss whether the proposed parking reduction request is
supportable for this project. I am arguing that it is not supportable.
Granting an 8% vehicle parking reduction in return for the provision of 15 additional
bicycle parking spaces (instead of the standard 2), particularly if this results in
increasing both the bulk and density of this 4-story tall project, makes very little
sense. Why?
1. Because bike enthusiasts will arrive at this motel with their own bikes and
leave them secured to the backs of their cars.
2. Because bike enthusiasts who arrive without bikes can easily rent them at two
bike rental shops an easy 7 block walk away in the 800 block of Marsh and
Higuera.
3. Because Monterey Street is lined with parked cars and has no designated bike
path. It is an extremely dangerous route for bicyclists. According to SLO’s
Traffic Safety Report, presented to the Council last Tuesday, the portion of
Monterey between Grand and California is classified as a high collision rate
arterial segment. The California/Monterey intersection has the 2nd highest
rate of right hook collisions between cars and bikes. Monterey Street is not
only dangerous for bicycles but also for cars and pedestrians. The
Monterey/Santa Rosa intersection has one of the highest rates of vehicular
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collisions. Moreover, the Monterey/Santa Rosa intersection has a high rate of
collisions between cars and pedestrians, followed by the intersections at
Monterey & Johnson and Monterey & California.
4. Finally, Monterey Street is served by the Old SLO Trolley between 5 & 9 P.M.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday and on weekdays throughout the day by City
Bus Routes 1B, 3B, 4B and the San Luis Drive Tripper (SLT) which runs
every 20 minutes. There are nearby bus stops along Monterey at Toro,
California and Grove.
5. If you approve this parking reduction request, I predict that this bike room,
accommodating an over-the-top 17 bike racks, will be used for other purposes
(as it will never be needed for bikes) and sadly the City will end up with an
overly massive project.
Thank you!
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