HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-03-2016 Item 12, WhitneyCOUNCIL MEETING:
ITEM NO.'—
To:
O.°^
To: Maier, John Paul
Subject: RE: 40 Buena Vista Drive
From: Sharon Whitney
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 9:35 AM
To: Marx, Jan; Ashbaugh, John; Christianson, Carlyn; Carpenter, Dan; Rivoire, Dan
Cc: Maier, John Paul
Subject: 40 Buena Vista Drive
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
In lieu of my attendance at tonight's City Council meeting, please accept my attached letter of
opposition to the proposed design of the home at 40 Buena Vista Drive.
Thank you,
Sharon G. Whitney, PhD
216 Albert Drive
San Luis Obispo, CA
We are all teachers and students for each other.
1
Dear Mayor Marx and City Council,
I reside in the Alta Vista neighborhood. It has come to my attention that the proposed design for a home
at 40 (previously 48) Buena Vista Drive is back before you as an appeal from approval action taken by
the Architectural Review Commission (ARC).
I write in opposition to the design of this planned home. When you saw it before at an earlier appeal
from the ARC, you directed staff at that time to pay stricter attention to the restrictions imposed by the
location of the site on the hillside overlooking U.S. 101 and to compatibility issues with the rest of the
neighborhood. However, it appears that staff did very little to reign in the problems with the design as it
was. So, it now comes before you with some of the same flaws originally objected to by the neighbors
and RQN.
Specifically, three design flaws exist, as follows:
1. A rooftop deck and its potential uses sets a new precedent incompatible with neighborhood
home designs, particularly given that the design also includes two balconies for private outdoor
space.
2. Too many exceptions (except for grading) with hillside Special Overlay standards, and thus
creates another precedent—non-compliance with our hillside standards.
3. Windows facing U.S. Highway 101 pose potential light reflection and driver-distraction/safety
issues during sunlight hours and when lights are on at night inside the house.
I sincerely hope that you will once again direct staff to help the applicant for this home to redesign it in a
way compatible with the neighborhood and our hillside protection standards.
Thank you,
Sharon G. Whitney
216 Albert Drive
San Luis Obispo City