HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/16/2019 Item 1, Nelson-Selby (distributed at meeting)Carol Nelson -Selby 1201 Leff Street, San Luis Obispo
For the Architectural Review Committee 9/16/19
PLEASE PUT UP Page 9, Page 29; Page 31xA; Page 37; Page 26
As a neighbor and user of the hospital I am somewhat disappointed in the current
lack of information with regard to parking and energy. The design seems rooted in
a mid -20th Century mindset of no solar, cheap gas and disregard for community.
Where is any effort to innovatively meet challenges in these areas? The medical
buildings seem wonderful, but there was no reference to using stored solar energy
instead of relying upon generators and their toxic emissions during power outages,
just as there was no acknowledgement of how generators and a monolithic parking
structure could affect the lives of others.
What I saw was a very 1960's approach to single -occupant driving: "build for it".
How about being the first large company to collaboratively ensure a system of pre-
paid minibuses for patients and employees just like those that serve big Tech
companies in some parts of California and Oregon, rather than enabling more
single -occupant driving on Johnson, which is a crowded street at all times, but
especially as school or athletic events let out.
Also unfortunate is that most of the exhibits provide little or conflicting information
about exactly where the garage would be. Look at page 9 in the packet. Where is
this? What am I looking at in the lower left-hand corner? There are no landmarks.
26 puts the structure north of a parking lot, and 37 puts it on the edge of the ravine.
What is clear is that any large structure along the property line will look down on
the Railroad District historical neighborhood, which is one of the oldest in San Luis
Obispo, and will affect this area.
We who own here are required to abide by architectural guidelines. Somehow that
seem ridiculous (if not discriminatory) if you are going to allow French to build a
modern=ish cement parking structure close to the edge of the property and visible.
NOTHING shows the prominence and elevation of the proposed structure's site. The
RR is itself at least one story above the level of Leff St, and then there is a very steep
embankment above the RR which is also more than a story high. Thus, a 3 -story
building at the top would be functionally the same as an at least 5 -story structure
when experienced from the "wrong" side of the tracks. It could forever change the
views from the Jennifer Street bridge, Terrace Hill and the Railroad station and stick
out like a sore thumb if this isn't addressed.
Please, committee members, drive over there, stop, park and walk around, looking
up at the site and imagining 3 or 4 stories above that. Get a surveyor to help you
see where the sight line would fall at various distances from the edge. Find out how
such a building would affect something so essential as morning sunlight for an
entire neighborhood. Walk up the Railroad access road and see how steep that cliff
is and how close the fence is to the actual drop-off.
The aesthetic, ecological and architectural integrity deficits of this proposal would
alone justify this committee recommending reducing the height for the parking
building, possibly with more spaces underground in order to minimize the
structure's profile, as well as requiring a greater setback from the property edge.