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Home My WebLink About04-30-2018 - 1135 Santa Rosa St.- Grady1 Tonikian, Victoria From:John Grady < Sent:Saturday, April 28, 2018 10:12 AM To:Codron, Michael Cc:Ansolabehere, Jon; Corey, Tyler; Fowler, Xzandrea; Davidson, Doug; Advisory Bodies Subject:Re: ARC communication - 1135 Santa Rosa Street Attachments:2018-04-25 10.18.59.jpg Michael, I appreciate your taking the time to reply in detail to my concerns. I had presumed when Council sent the issue back to the ARC for review and final determination of what changes would be required, that there would be a public hearing including a proposal by the developer, staff recommendations, and an opportunity for public comment to the ARC on the matter - just like the normal review process. It seems odd to me that the issue is being 'resolved' outside of this normal process, with private meetings between a subcommittee of the ARC and the developer and with modifications being made "at risk" to the building. It seems to me that if Mr. Kulick makes changes after consultations with a subcommittee of the ARC, when he ultimately goes before the entire ARC he is quite likely to get approval from this body for his finished product since he presumably has applied finishes which at least some of the ARC members have approved. This process for for remedying his violations will have taken place without any opportunity for the community to weigh in on the matter and share their thoughts and concerns. I believe leaving our city's residents out of this process is inappropriate. Since the public was included in all the prior hearings and discussions that led to the original conditions for approval, it seems illogical to now move forward with essentially closed door hearings. Yes, we will have a chance to weigh in once it comes back to the full ARC, but by that time it will be a fait de acompli. This runs counter to the city's often stated goal of encouraging public input on civic matters such as this. Thank you again for your time and for hearing my concerns. Best regards, John Grady On Friday, April 27, 2018, 10:59:07 AM PDT, Codron, Michael <mcodron@slocity.org> wrote: Hello Mr. Grady, I’m writing to provide you and the City Council with an update on the status of this project. I previously communicated to you that the property owner had met with a sub-committee of the ARC to discuss changes to the building that were necessary to comply with the Council’s action on the appeal. The City Council authorized the ARC to make a final 2 decision on this matter, but supported the primary building color as applied. As a result, the discussions between staff, the property owner, and the ARC sub-committee have focused on the additional application of wood siding on the building. Recently, the property owner moved forward with an additional application of wood siding in the area that was previously proposed and generally supported by staff and the ARC subcommittee. No building permit was required for this work, but the installation of the additional siding was done “at risk” and is still subject to ARC approval. The property owner has indicated that he will be submitting an additional mock-up showing more wood siding on the ground-level of the building. Once staff has this information, it will move forward to the ARC for review. I understand your concerns and appreciate your input on this matter. The reason this process has been slow is because the ARC’s decision will be final, and the overall scope of changes to be accomplished is relatively small in consideration of the whole project. We want to get this right and not force a decision that creates more problems down the line. Please feel free to give me a call if you would like to discuss this information. Thank you, -Michael Michael Codron Director of Community Development Community Development 919 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249 E mcodron@slocity.org T 805.781.7187 C 805.540.0767 slocity.org Bcc: City Council From: John Grady <johngrady5@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, April 23, 2018 10:17 AM To: Codron, Michael <mcodron@slocity.org>; E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org> Subject: Re: 1135 Santa Rosa Street Mr. Codron, Mayor Harmon, & City Council Members, 3 I am following up nearly 2 months after I first e-mailed you regarding the non-compliance of Ben Kulick to bring his building at 1135 Santa Rosa Street into compliance with the ARC's requirements dating back to Sept. 11, 2017 and to City Council's edict issued Oct. 3, 2017. The colors and finishes on his building remain the same today as you and the ARC found to be in violation of the City's General Plan and Land Use Policy and its Community Design Guidelines over seven months ago. Mr. Kulick's lack of compliance over such an extended period of time is a snub to the authority of the City Council and its regulatory bodies. The City's lack of enforcement of its design guidelines and your very own Council resolutions undermines your authority and serves to embolden other developers to take similar actions. I urge that you take immediate enforcement actions to remedy this situation. Thank you. John Grady San Luis Obispo On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 8:34:50 PM PST, Codron, Michael <mcodron@slocity.org> wrote: Hello Mr. Grady, Thank you for being in touch regarding your concerns with the subject property. The property owner has met with a sub- committee of the ARC, and submitted additional information for evaluation by staff just yesterday. Staff is planning to bring the matter back to the ARC for a final determination, perhaps on March 19 (date is unconfirmed at this time). We appreciate your input and will let you know when the hearing date is confirmed. If you have any questions for me about the project, please let me know. All the best, -Michael 4 Michael Codron Director of Community Development Community Development 919 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249 E mcodron@slocity.org T 805.781.7187 C 805.540.0767 slocity.org From: John Grady [ Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2018 4:08 PM To: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org> Cc: Johnson, Derek <djohnson@slocity.org>; Codron, Michael <mcodron@slocity.org> Subject: 1135 Santa Rosa Street Dear Mayor Harmon and City Council Members, I am writing regarding Mr. Ben Kulick's continued violation of the ARC's approved paint colors on his building at 1135 Santa Rosa Street. As you recall, Mr. Kulick made substantial modifications to his building's finish and color scheme without first consulting with the ARC for approval. When he was called out on his violations last July, he appealed to the ARC for approval of his numerous violations. The ARC ultimately denied his appeal on September 11, 2017 (nearly 6 months ago). Mr. Kulick appealed the ARC's decision to your body on October 3, 2017. You very generously granted him some exceptions to the ARC's design requirements, but you found his monochromatic (and very dark) building color to be in violation of the City's General Plan Land Use Policy 4.20.4 and to be inconsistent with the City's Community Design Guidelines. You subsequently issued Resolution No. 10839 at your next council meeting on Oct. 17, 2017, stating in part, "the building colors, materials, or design shall be modified to achieve a visual reduction in apparent building mass and scale ... subject to final approval of the Architectural Review Commission." I find this entire situation to be appalling in many regards. First of all, that the developer would unilaterally make significant changes to the building's colors, bulkhead, and windows with no prior discussion with the ARC, in clear violation of their conditions of approval, is simply unacceptable. Next, that the building remains in violation of the City's General Plan Land Use Policy and Community Design Guidelines a full 5 months after your resolution ordering compliance, subject to ARC approval, 5 is very troubling indeed. It surely does not demonstrate any sense of urgency nor willingness to act in good faith on the part of Mr. Kulick. I encourage you to enforce your resolution, ordering corrective action be completed in a timely manner. Should similar situations arise in the future - where you direct an applicant to make design changes subject to ARC (or any other body's) approval - I suggest you set a date certain for completion of your directives. I find the actions of Mr. Kulick to be insulting to you, to our city's residents, and to the process. The longer he delays compliance and gets exceptions from your body the more encouraging it is to future developers to follow suit. Thank you. John Grady San Luis Obispo Right-click or tap and hold here to download pictuprotect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatthis picture from the Internet. Virus‐free. www.avast.com