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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/4/2018 Item 15, Dietze To:Fukushima, Adam Subject:RE: Anholm Bikeway Plan and Thanksgiving From: Jim Dietze < Sent: Friday, August 31, 2018 2:14 PM To: Christianson, Carlyn <cchristianson@slocity.org> Cc: Fukushima, Adam <AFukushima@slocity.org>; John Valpey < Subject: FW: Anholm Bikeway Plan and Thanksgiving Dear Vice Mayor Christianson and Council members: I am the next door neighbor of John and Peggy Valpey. My name is Jim Dietze and my wife Andrea and I live at 482 Chorro St. Over the last year or so, John, Peggy and I have reviewed and discussed the Anholm Bikeway Plan and its potential negative impact on our “Neighborhood” (some think of Chorro as just a traffic connector from Foothill to downtown, but it is actually an old established neighborhood). I agree with your email to John below that the staff report and all the options are overwhelming. But to parse it down, the option that we are very much opposed to is the option for a dedicated two way bike lane on Chorro that removes existing street parking on one side of the street. This option would completely destroy our neighborhood. Our neighborhood relies totally on available street parking on both sides of the street (we purchased our homes knowing there was available street parking on both sides of Chorro). Our house was built in 1937 and like many other homes on Chorro it has a single lane driveway which is connected to a small garage in the rear. As a two person household, we have two cars and if forced to stack our cars in our driveway on a daily basis because there is no available street parking in the vicinity of our home, we would have this dilemma: if the lead car in the driveway needs to get out before the rear car, then the other person in the household would need to back the rear car out into the street, hold up traffic or drive around the block while the lead car backs out and exits the driveway. This could potentially happen almost on a daily basis. Also, for the residents on the dedicated bike lane side of the street there would be the safety issue of crossing a two way bike lane well as two way car traffic while backing their cars out on to Chorro- couple that with the scenario of the two person/two car household with a single lane driveway, you have a disaster. unacceptable. We basically feel that the existing shared auto and bicycle traffic on Chorro is working fine in its present condition. We understand the desire to increase bike ridership, but not at the expense or safety of our established neighborhood. The removal of any existing street parking on either side of Chorro would deprive us and other Chorro residents of something that most other older established neighborhoods in SLO enjoy- available street parking on both sides of the street. However, we are not opposed to additional proposed measures such as traffic calming along Chorro (or Broad and Linclon) or other mitigations if everyone thinks those are good ideas. My first paragraph is a little winded. Sorry about that. I hope you don’t mind that John Valpey shared your email below with me. Hopefully the other Council members and yourself can appreciate our position on this matter and you will all vote to keep our neighborhood and its existing street parking intact. Thank you for your consideration. Jim Dietze 482 Chorro St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 1 From: "Christianson, Carlyn" <cchristianson@slocity.org> Subject: Re: Anholm Bikeway Plan Date: August 31, 2018 at 8:16:35 AM PDT To: John Valpey < Hi Mr. Valpey, Thanks for writing the Council. I appreciate very much all input on this project. It's a rock and a hard place, with the neighborhood itself split completely and at odds over the very real impacts (not "just parking spaces"), something that I'm very sorry to see. The city is still receiving lots of good thoughts and suggestions for going forward, though, which is wonderful if a bit overwhelming. The staff report already has 5 major options (ATC rec, PC rec, two neighborhood recs, staff rec) so it's getting a little complicated. I actually like the way you are dividing up the thinking, I truly appreciate the clear communication and practical ideas! I still am considering a number of ways to go. I imagine that whatever the Council decides, everyone will be unhappy. Half the neighbors (and city) feel we are moving too slow, the other half too fast! However, I am committed 100% to our city's policies and plan which requires a core network of safe bikeways built in our difficult-to-travel city (all those pesky creeks, hills, highways and railroads!). The *timing* on a piece of this project is a little more elusive, given the real neighborhood impacts and funding issues, so we shall see what we can do. Again I appreciate very much your taking the time to share your thoughts with the Council. Thanks again, Carlyn Carlyn Christianson Vice Mayor Office of the City Council 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249 E cchristianson@slocity.org T 805.781.7122 C 805.550.9320 slocity.org From: John Valpey < To: E-mail Council Website Cc: Fukushima, Adam Subject: Anholm Bikeway Plan 2 Council members, I have attended most council, ATC, and now Planning Commission meetings regarding the Anholm Bikeway Plan for the past year and a half. I will add that the recent discussion and subsequent action by the Planning Commission I thought to be among the most balanced. Their was true concern about putting excessive demands on a neighborhood - and still have it be a neighborhood. Among all of the proposals, at a prior meeting I believe the Council had a motion on the table to test significant traffic calming on Broad, Chorro, and Lincoln; post Lincoln and Mission streets (Chorro to Broad) as a bicycle shared street, and measure results before moving to more intrusive measures. I believe Aaron Gomez made the motion, but it was subsequently withdrawn. I would hope that this motion would be made again! Lincoln/Mission streets (from Chorro to Broad) IS already the safest route and would be a perfect “safe route to school”. Current bicycle traffic uses Chorro, Broad and Lincoln, and I believe that these routes will continue to be personal choices, even if the protected lane on Chorro was implemented. The “protected lane” concept on Chorro would be a disaster for the neighborhood and more unsafe for motorists, pedestrians, and residents. Please let bicyclists choose their route! Hopefully your decision next week will respect the Anholm neighborhood’s quality of life and safety. John Valpey Chorro Street 3