HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/21/2019 Item 2, Lopes
Wilbanks, Megan
From:James Lopes <jameslopes@charter.net>
Sent:Sunday, October
To:Scott, Shawna; Advisory Bodies
Cc:Nick Wilson; Allan Cooper; Russ Brown
Subject:October 21, 2019 ARC hearing, Item 2: 545 Higuera/486 Marsh
Architectural Review Commission
City of San Luis Obispo
RE: October 21, 2019 ARC hearing, Item 2: 545 Higuera / 486 Marsh
Dear Commissioners:
I hope that you will seek some important modifications to the project
design:
1. Please seek a more compatible style of design which fits better with the historic setting. The buildings are too austere
in modernism - they lack well-known articulation and details such as expressive cornices, moldings, pilasters and
horizontal bands, and so on. This location is exactly where the City's guidelines and traditional respect for historic
neighborhood character should be applied.
2. Please repeat your previous direction to step back the third floor on both streets. The three-story frontages facing
traffic on Marsh and on Higuera are severe, monumental and lack any inference of San Luis Obispo character, especially
with all the historic references right in plain sight. Please seek changes in materials, planes, setbacks and added
decorations to reduce the mass of these frontages.
3. Window and door treatments appear to be the same materials and designs throughout. Windows should be required
to be in vertical openings, rather than in wide frames. What is wrong with wood doors, bronze or even wooden-
appearing window frames? Please do not let typical aluminum "storefronts" be the default. These buildings would be
much more compatible if they have similar shapes, styles and materials as the surrounding buildings. Please have the
large windows reduced, especially on the upper floors.
4. Please have the color palette expanded to break up the massive size within this small-scale neighborhood. Variations
in color and materials would introduce more urbanism for pedestrians, rather than vehicle traffic. People respond
positively to color variety, which draws them along facades, along with changes in first floor materials and decorations.
5. Please show more concern and respect for the neighboring properties and their owners. Can the windows facing the
Pollard house be reduced in size, balconies eliminated, and can large specimen trees be required to obtain immediate
height tall enough to screen at least the second story windows? Just planting 15-gallon trees will have no significant
screening effect for 15 to 30 years. Can these windows be only for partial opening, and not as sliding doors or balcony
doors?
It is apparent that the neighboring modern building next to Gennaro's Restaurant was an unnecessary intrusion of
modernism in this area. Please do not compound the problem. If anything, the Spanish / Mission style mixed-use
building at Marsh and Carmel could even be the style for this project. It would reduce this project's severe disjuncture
from the prevailing blend of early 20th Century styles in this historic neighborhood.
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Thank you,
James Lopes
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