HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/1/2019 Item 08, Lopes
Wilbanks, Megan
From:James Lopes <jameslopes@charter.net>
Sent:Monday,
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Brett Cross; Allan Cooper; Nick Wilson; Peter Johnson
Subject:Item 8: Deny Appeal of Planning Commission approval of Resolution No.
PC-1003-2019 Condition No. 3; October 1, 2019 hearing
September 30, 2019
TO: City Council, City of San Luis Obispo
FROM: James Lopes
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
I support upholding the Planning Commission decision and denying the appeal by the applicant, and to uphold the
appeal of the appellant.
I wish to point out that density does have to do with the number of units, the number of bedrooms, and the number of
occupants. If bedrooms which are 24 feet by 12 feet can be divided into two, then each 12 by 12 foot portion can be
occupied by more than one person. Four people staying in the one larger bedroom would probably be unpopular.
The essential ploy under examination is placing or building room dividers in the middle of double doors, creating two
private bedrooms. The first project built with this ploy is 22 Chorro, which as you have at least heard, advertised its
rental units as 4-bedroom units! Isn't that a little disingenuous, to apply for 2-bedroom units, and then rent them to
people as having four bedrooms? How does that jibe with the Planning Director's stance, that having double doors and
separating walls is not creating four bedrooms in each unit?
The corollary ploy is to have the City approve the project with parking required for the 2-bedroom units, but with very
large bedroom sizes, so that when divided, the resulting four bedrooms can be occupied easily by two, not one,
occupant. But, with four actual bedrooms, each unit would only have half the required parking. If this result is a
positive one for you, it would be more preferable to place your desires before the community, and initiate an
amendment to the parking standards to only allow parking by unit, not bedroom.
The Planning Commission did what the staff cannot bear, they diverted this ploy to increase the density of occupants by
the applicant. Neither the Uniform Building Code or the Density Bonus Law place restrictions on limiting the size of
bedrooms, or the number or size of doors into them, or restricting interior walls. With its broad police power, the City
has the discretion to modify the project design to ensure the outcome matches the proposal. The Planning Commission
actually could have required a re-design to reduce the size of the bedrooms and ergo, the likely number of occupants. In
the face of aggressive staff reaction, it actually did our city a favor, by responding to this ploy with a simple solution,
albeit conceivably ineffective, to limit the size of the bedroom door.
I think it is appropriate for your Council to respond similarly and give leadership to staff to transform their attitude and
thinking about these housing laws, and be more creative within the laws. Not all cities are following the restrictive
thinking of your staff. A first step in that warranted direction would be to question staff heartily, and to make a decision
to uphold the Planning Commission decision.
Sincerely,
1
James Lopes
912 Bluebell Way
San Luis Obispo
2