HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/16/2019 Item 13, SLOU40
From:Vanessa Igel <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:SLOU40 Response to City's Primary Goals
Attachments:SLO U40 - City Goals.pdf
Madam Mayor and City Council Members,
Please find attached the full letter responding to the City's Primary Goals.
Several SLOU40 members will read abbreviated sections of this letter during tonight's council meeting, but we will not
be reading the letter in its entirety.
Thank you for your consideration,
Vanessa Igel
SLOU40
Steering Committee Member
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Madam Mayor and City Council Members,
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the discussion of major city goals for our beloved San
Luis Obispo. We appreciate being part of the conversation and are working hard to represent the
hundreds of under 40s that are active in both our organization and this region.
SLOU40 continues to look for ways to take part in meaningful conversation and worthwhile action to
enhance the community and ensure positive growth and future development. We believe our values
align with several of the key major city goals. We would like to bring added insight to those goals so that
they more cohesively align with the values of the entire community, inclusive of those under 40. We
have prepared a number of suggestions and ideas based on the highest-priority goals identified by the
city.
Housing
Starting with housing, we continue to support this council’s efforts for diversification in development
and ask to push for more creative solutions among varied groups. We have outlined a few ideas
including the following:
●Incentivize developers to continue prioritizing diverse housing opportunities that support local
citizens via deed restrictions, etc. We, like many other groups who have a vested interest in the
city’s housing, want to ensure that people who buy homes in the community also live within our
community. We feel this is a crucial component to retain our neighborhood culture and
connection.
●Consider a more streamlined process or point of contact for existing homeowners who want to
update and improve their existing homes or develop rental space on their property. We have
heard the frustration of many who are trying to upgrade or rebuild and are hindered by having
to coordinate and seek approval from a variety of people and processes during the planning
stage, only to receive varied and conflicting information. A more organized process would allow
for ease of flow, efficiency and cost savings for both the city and homeowners alike.
●Consider more restrictions on vacation rentals like VRBO and Airbnb. Surrounding communities
like Morro Bay and Paso Robles are also addressing this issue and we would like to learn more
from their findings on how this affects community and neighborhood status. We recognize its
value as it relates to tourism, tourist revenue and homeowner income. However, we are
concerned about the loss of workforce housing for permanent residents, which diminishes the
strong sense of community that makes our city unique.
●We would like to thank the council for its support on tiny houses and encourage the
development of more creative solutions including infill. The under 40 community is working
hard to try to live and work in this region, and believes the community should reflect not only its
income level, but its transportation and size preferences related to the types of homes we want
to live in and how we use them.
●We strongly believe that through creative and smart development, and a laser focus on
neighborhood wellness and community connections, we together build a place where we live,
work and contribute in any phase of life.
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Sustainable Transportation
Transportation is and will continue to be a primary goal for SLOU40: We believe in mitigating impacts of
climate change; we value living in proximity to where one works; we support a community that has ease
of access to the region, regardless of socioeconomic status; and we support developing healthier
lifestyles and better habits as we learn new ways to break antiquated commuting systems. Together, we
believe small changes will have a huge impact on our community, environment and quality of life.
●We would like to first thank the council for its great work and commitment on prioritizing bike
lanes and green spaces and ask for continued development in these areas.
●We have heard from our constituents that cyclists feel unsafe due to unconnected bike lanes,
lack of connecting portions of town, and spaces inhabited by pedestrians or homeless
populations that are otherwise used for cyclist transportation. This often prohibits bike travel as
a reliable option.
●A potential creative solution would be for the city to support and encourage more access to
open park spaces with planned events in lesser known or unused areas. This creates opportunity
for nearby community members and families to rideshare or bike to these areas, re-engaging
parks and green spaces, and bringing life and community back into them.
●A current example: ECOSLO is hosting a creek cleanup during the Creeks to Coast Cleanup
event. They have selected sites around the city to encourage communities to come together –
bike or walk there -- and spend time cleaning up and making new friends in the park or spaces
near their home.
●We would also like to support and acknowledge businesses like Lincoln Market & Deli which
provides discounts for bike riders. We encourage the city to support and use more businesses
that are proactively supporting sustainability values.
●We would like to encourage the city to rethink bus routes and streamline services for key
demographics. For example, a Cal Poly to Target express route that runs there and back on the
weekends without other stops. Currently it can take 45 minutes to get to Target by switching 2-3
buses. We believe that creating more direct bus routes will make it easier and more convenient
for people to use our bus system, while lowering our carbon footprint.
●A future goal would also be for more connected bus routes that benefit the region. For example,
bus routes from carpool locations from Pismo / AG or Atascadero / Paso into downtown.
●Another solution is for the city to consider working with local businesses like medical offices,
banks, churches and other places that close after the business day to open their lots to make
additional parking available. This is currently working with the church on Foothill and Santa Rosa
to provide additional staff parking during the week.
●We believe we have all of the tools and infrastructure currently in place to make a significant
impact on reducing our transportation footprint, and encourage the city to work collaboratively
with the community to re-strategize what’s existing into ways that make it more user friendly
and efficient for everyone. This includes collaborating with county-wide transportation efforts
so that regional transportation to the city hub is efficient and cost effective.
Climate Action
We recognize and celebrate that significant action has been taken by this council related to
sustainability; SLOU40 would like to contribute a few more ideas on ways that will amplify the work that
has been established.
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●The city’s Climate Action Plan is a well thought-out approach to many of the city’s biggest
climate change initiatives. We encourage the city to continue to prioritize these goals and follow
through on these ideas.
●We’re supportive of the steps the city has taken with limiting plastic straws in the city and
moving away from plastic cups at city events. We are excited for the commitment to Community
Choice Energy and appreciate the polystyrene regulations.
●We would like to continue this work with an effort to educate people on wish-cycling; which is
the common practice of people putting items into recycling they wish can be recycled instead of
what our local plant is currently able to process.
●We also believe more stickers or signage on recycling and trash cans would further help to
educate and empower residents and visitors to make the correct decisions related to recycling.
●Starting with the city and businesses, we’d like more of a pledge to use recycled-paper products
and materials, and well as more education on how to trash, recycle and compost as a lifestyle
choice.
●We believe allowing opportunity for city businesses to pledge towards moving away from
single-use plastics would further support climate action policies. We ask the city to work with
the new hotels on operational expectations to reduce waste, and for those businesses to bring
awareness to visitors and guests to share our values of limiting single-use items while they are
spending time in our city.
●SLO U40 acknowledges and supports the work the city has done and continues to do to protect
our Green Belt and the recent property acquisitions for the goal of preserving our natural
resources.
Downtown Vitality
And, finally, a new idea to reuse vacated or abandoned spaces downtown.
●We would like the city to consider a partnership with Downtown SLO, The Hothouse, or Arts
Obispo to allow artists and entrepreneurs to use vacant storefronts as creative spaces.
Implemented in other cities, this creative system allows empty buildings to be a vibrant part of
downtown. If implemented, this system would support economic vitality through
entrepenurialship, foster a strong arts and culture community, and attract tourism.
●Giving artists a place to create and showcase their work free of charge for a month at a time
helps show our commitment to sustaining our downtown art scene and culture, gives people
reason to visit downtown more often, and provides an opportunity to local artists to showcase
and promote their work.
●This, along with additional murals and public art downtown helps create more walkable and free
attractions, and extends our downtown into less popular or trafficked areas.
●Supporting entrepreneurs in co-workspace environment at low or no-cost foster innovation and
ingenuity within our community and creates opportunity for new businesses to bring their
start-ups to San Luis Obispo.
We again thank you for the ability to participate in this dialogue and are happy to further this
conversation by ongoing participation in any of the above major goals and suggestions. SLOU40 believes
that San Luis Obispo will remain a forward-thinking and desired city of the future, and a place where we
all can afford to live, work, create and prosper.
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