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Home My WebLink About06/13/2019 cc - White (Numerous City Questions)Tonikian, Victoria From:CityClerk To:LindaWhite Cc:Betz, Ryan Subject:RE: NumerousSLOcityquestions Attachments:201811Protectedbikelanes.docx Dear Mrs. White, ThankyoufortakingthetimetocontacttheCityCouncilonthisissue. TheCityCouncilhasreceived yourrequestandMichaelCodron, DirectorofCommunity Development whoisresponsiblefor resolvingthisissueiscopiedonthisemail. Michaeloramemberofhisstaffwillbefollowingupwith youshortly. 1 Ifyouhave otherconcerns orquestionsregardingthisissue, pleasecontactCommunity Development at (805) 781- 7170. Forfuturerequests, ourwebsiteallowsyoutodirectlyreportthesetypesofissuesat www.slocity.org/how-do-i/report. ThewebsitealsoincludesaFrequentlyAskedQuestionssectionat www.slocity.org/how-do-i/view/frequently-asked-questions. Sincerely, Victoria Tonikian Administrative AssistantII CityAdministration CityClerk'sOffice 990PalmStreet, SanLuisObispo, CA93401-3249 Evtonikia@slocity.org T805.781.7105 slocity.org BCC: Council_All ARCCommissioners & Staff PCMembers & Staff From: LindaWhite <lindaleewhite15@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, June6, 20194:47PM To: CityClerk <CityClerk@slocity.org>; Harmon, Heidi <hharmon@slocity.org>; Christianson, Carlyn cchristi@slocity.org>; Gomez, Aaron <agomez@slocity.org>; Pease, Andy <apease@slocity.org> Subject: NumerousSLOcityquestions Pleaseseethatthisis distributedtothe CityCouncil Members, Planning andArchitecturalCommittee Members. Ihave beengoneforsome monthsand amnot sureifthesecommittees arestill inexistence afterthe developerstreamliningbythecity. Iam backin SanLuisObispo fora fewmonths beforecontinuing mytravels. I madea number ofobservations uponmyreturn. NotonlyistheSantaRosa/Marsh Street building stillblackbutthere aremanynewbuildingsimitatingthe heatabsorbing darkcolors, eg. themultistory whatever (?) thatoverlooksGennaro'sRestaurant onMarsh, the newmulti-story hotelnexttothePalm TheatrethatIthought wastoevoketheChinatown heritage, the Monterey St. Hotelalso seemstobe takingona funeralpalette, andanapartment onKentucky & Bond. Ihadoutofstate visitors visiting overMemorialDayandhadoccasiontovisit thedowntownwhichI normally avoid duelackofparking, nostores forlocals, overabundanceof barsforalcoholics, and street narrowing forconstruction. I andmyvisitors noticed alarge numberofvacant retail spaces. Itseemsthatmore areyettocomeunder allofthenewhotels. Howdoyoupropose tofillthese spaces? Haveyounoticedthata vacancy overabundance onStateStreetinSantaBarbarahasadded toaseedyskidrowatmosphere? Isthis what isplannedhereinSLO? 2 Isthestapledcardboardfence nextto191Kentucky somesortofstatement? IstherestillaNeighborhood patrolthatusedtolookoutforoffensiveneighborhood violations? ManyofmyAirBnB (license # 113215) guestshavecommented ontherecentchangesinSLOoverthepast yearsthattheyhavebeen coming here. TheycomplainthatSLOislosing thehometown, neighborly feel. They feelthatitisbecoming likethetownsthatthey leave. How manylow incomehousingunits havebeen addedduringthisgrowthperiodin SLO? How manyof the new "Workforce Housing" developments willactuallybeaffordable totheSLOworkforce? If theCityrequired moreconcessions fromdevelopers instead ofgrantingthemhigherbuildinglimitsand lowered parkingrequirementsfor theexceedingly lowpercentageoflower incomehousing, perhapsSB 50 wouldbeunnecessaryhere in SLO. Whatpercentage oflowincomehousingdoes theCityreceive? DidIread correctly in theTribune thatoutof650newhomesinoneofthedevelopments, 35 wouldbelowincome? Isthe Citydoing anything togetstudentsontothe campusrather thanthetraditionalneighborhoods where the Workforce" usedto live. Wehearabout thesacrosanct "richfarmland" onthecampusuntilahorseunitor someotherCPwant coversit foranything buthousing. Iwouldreally likeanswerstothesequestions. I willbein SLOfor thesummer months whenthecity somewhat returnstoacomfortable town. However, Icanbereached bye-mail, whereverIam: lindaleewhite0515@charter.net Iwrote toyouinNovember2018, duringanother briefSLO stayandaskedabout sidewalks, trafficpatterns, protected bikelanes, etc. Ireceived averyniceemail thatitwouldbeforwarded totheappropriateagency and myquestionsanswered. Theanswers never reached me. Itwouldbeniceifthoseprevious questions couldbe answered alongwiththeabovequestions. Iwillattachthatprevious lettertothisemail. Linda White 2077Slack St. SanLuis Obispo. CA 3 2018 November I am a socialist leaning progressive but also one of the "small but loud and consistently disgruntled". I have lived in SLO for 50 years, can no longer ride a bike, and my children can't afford to buy homes here. When I see a problem, I also try to give a solution. Here is one observation that disgruntles me and possible solutions: I arrived back in SLO during the Anholm protected bike lane discussion. It would be a pity to destroy the friendly traditional neighborhood atmosphere of Anholm. I know because my Monterey Heights neighborhood is no longer a traditional neighborhood but an extension of the Cal Poly Campus. It is what it is, will never return and I am resigned to that. The Freshman dorms are now occupied with 1400 students and Grand Ave seems to be the main entrance to the campus. Didn't the original plans for the Freshman dorms call for sidewalks along Slack from Grand to Hathway on the CP side of the street? It seems that CP should be so pleased that the City did not oppose the new dorms, that it would gladly put in the sidewalks even if they were not on the original plans. It seems that they would also be interested in the safety of their students who now walk in the street along with bicycles, and cars. Back to protected bicycle lanes. It seems that Slack Street from Grand to Hathway would be an area that the City and CP would like to see safer. Why not take away the parking on the CP side of the street and put protected bike lanes in that space. If pedestrians used the new sidewalks and bikes and skateboards used the protected lanes we could avoid bikes veering into traffic to avoid an opening car door. This would be much safer for everyone. Secondly, if you could show the Anholm neighborhood how this protected lane is so much safer, they may begin to understand what you are proposing. Why not put a protected lane on Grand Ave. also. You could take all parking from the Classical Academy/Jespersen side of the street right up to Monterey. The only area of concern to bikers would be the freeway entrance. Crosswalks also need to be painted on Grand. This would have a speed calming effect and protect students who run or bike across two lanes, wait in the landscaped median and then run across the other two lanes. Finally, a traffic signal needs to be put in at Grand and Slack. The four way stop does not work adequately. Living on Slack, I travel Grand and Slack numerous times by car and occasionally walking. I have noticed in the police reports that there have been two calls for minor accidents at Grand and Slack recently. I am surprised that there have not been more. Many exiting vehicles from CP don't even stop. Same with those making a left turn or entering the campus. Because there are pedestrians crossing, driver's lose track of who is next to go. I think that Laurel Lane and Johnson Ave. should also have these protected bike lanes as well as Madonna and Los Osos Valley Road. It seems that it would not cost the proposed Anholm 3 million dollars. If everyone in SLO saw the benefit of these lanes all over town, I am sure that the "loud and disgruntled" could be persuaded that it is a good thing. Thank You, Linda White