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Home My WebLink About05/22/2017 ARC and 05-24/25-2017 PC Correspondence - San Luis Ranch Item (Kincaid)1 To: Subject:RE: City of San Luis Obispo - Planning Commission Meeting - Amended Agenda From: Craig Kincaid [ Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2017 1:40 PM To: RQN of SLO < Subject: Re: City of San Luis Obispo ‐ Planning Commission Meeting ‐ Amended Agenda Sandy, I must whole heartedly disagree with the RQN position on this development . . . as you know I’m on the CHC and we’ve now seen the applicant’s project twice! and have known about it for a year! The airport commission looked at this project very closely and approved it (a very large hurdle) and this past week, the applicant presented us with an updated plan that had significant changes to the one we saw in January and many other bodies have seen the project and even after the city council approves of the development there will be many more rounds of review of plans by CHC, ARC, PRC, etc. . . . . it’s not being rushed!!!!! The voters approved Measure J in 2005 I believe which entitled Dalidio to develope the property with plans as presented in the measure, he sold the property with the entitlements. But more importantly, if Gary Grossman (the developer) decides to abandon (read sell it) the next developer will in all probability develope the property as per measure J which has no appeal process, the voters approved it and it will be built with much less agland, more much commercial and much more residential plus a water treatment plant . . . and it won’t be annexed into the city; in otherwords, it’ll be landlocked . . . we really don’t want that to happen. Could San Luis Ranch be better, sure, anything can be approved but at what cost? As it is now a very good development, everyone should support it. Please pass along my comments to other RQN members, espcially about the alternative - measure J approved . . . . Craig Dear RQN Members, See below for information and explanations concerning the San Luis Ranch (formerly Dalidio) housing and commercial development project. If you do not live in that area but do shop there, you may find the expected traffic to/from the project, if not mitigated, to be a problem. Sandra Rowley From: "City of San Luis Obispo, CA < . Content Updated: This Event has been previously sent out. UPDATE - Planning Commission Meeting - Amended Agenda  Date: 05/24/2017 6:00 PM  Location: City Hall - Council Chamber 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, California 93401 AMENDED AGENDA and Staff Reports 2 From: carolyn smith To: Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2017 3:59 PM Subject: Fw: City of San Luis Obispo, CA: UPDATE - Planning Commission Meeting - Amended Agenda The ARC is going to be holding a Study Session on May 22nd of San Luis Ranch. Then, the Planning Commission is going to review San Luis Ranch at their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 24th, and at a special meeting the following night, May 25th. Talk about rushing this project through as quickly as possible before anyone really notices!!! Please write in or attend the meeting and speak up about this project being detrimental to existing residents with regards to traffic, air quality, and loss of ag land. I keep hoping if we keep harping on the significant unavoidable impacts, they will not approve of the project (dreamer that I am). The Final EIR is completed and available on the Community Development Site. Click on Documents Online, then scroll down and click on Environmental Reports. Hold onto your hats--it's lengthy--but the Executive Summary provides a lot of insight if you don't have time to read the entire EIR. Here is a segment from the Executive Summary mentioning TWELVE significant and unavoidable Class 1 impacts: "Significant and Unavoidable Impacts The project would result in twelve significant and unavoidable (Class I) impacts. Issue areas with Class I impacts include air quality (Clean Air Plan consistency and cumulative air quality impacts), cultural resources (historic resources and cumulative historic resources), land use/policy consistency (General Plan policy consistency), noise (construction noise), and transportation (existing and near- term intersection operations, existing and near-term lane capacities, existing and near-term segment operations, cumulative intersection operations, cumulative lane capacities, and cumulative segment operations). " As you read the impacts on the page following the above statement, it is UNBELIVEABLE that our city is even considering this project. The only possible mitigation to some of the traffic problems is the Prado Road interchange/extension but they are recommending that in Phase II of the project. It needs to be done before any building on this site occurs. Even with the Prado Road Interchange/extension (which I heard Cal Trans will only agree to a north bound freeway entrance as currently exists), the traffic not going north on the freeway will all have to turn onto South Higuera. Vehicles will have to turn left onto South Higuera, travel to the next intersection at Madonna or go right to Tank Farm Road to get across to Broad/227. This won't help and will only make all the intersections on South Higuera insanely impacted. If you read the mitigations, it's recommended that there be longer turn lanes so we can all queue up waiting through numerous light signal cycles. This is big city type traffic congestion and we shouldn't be moving toward that goal, just for some housing that won't even be affordable after Mello Roos* costs are added to these homes. Additionally, I've heard from some out of town residents say they wouldn't move to SLO for numerous reasons, affordable housing or not. Student problems and water costs are just a couple of them. If any of you can attend at least one of these PC meetings, please try. If not, please e-mail the ARC and the PC (advisorybodies@slocity.org) Carolyn Smith * Mello-Roos is a special tax that homeowners pay in certain communities to fund bonds that support the infrastructure of that community. It's key to note that if the city leaders want these homes to be "affordable" for our workforce -- an additional property tax that could increase the housing price up to 75% certainly won't make them affordable. The increased horrible traffic will affect all those who shop over in the Laguna Lake area at Madonna Plaza, Costco, Target, Home Depot, etc., as well as those in the Southern area of the city. A Closer Look at Mello-Roos In 1982, The Mello-Roos Community Facilities District Act was enacted as an alternative financing plan for municipal improvements and services. Named for California State Senator Henry Mello and Assemblyman Mike Ross, the Act was passed as a response to Proposition 13 which limited the ability of local governments to finance new projects. Mello-Roos allows any school district, city, county, or joint powers of authority to establish what is known as a Mello-Roos Community Facilities District. These districts supplement services such as police, fire, ambulance, infrastructure, libraries, museums, cultural facilities, parks, schools, and sewer system through bonds; which are paid for by a special tax assessed to homeowners in those districts. So, is Mello-Roos good, or is it bad? 3 Pros and Cons of Buying a Home in a Mello-Roos District Mello-Roos is often misunderstood by home buyers because the tax amounts vary from district to district and from home to home. However, you can look up the actual Mello-Roos or CFD for each home in advance of a purchase. Many California residents feel passionately about the Mello-Roos Act, whether they support it or fundamentally disagree with it. The Cons of a Mello Roos District  The extra taxes can potentially limit the potential buyer pool.  Mello-Roos payments can often add between .25-.75% of the housing price in annual taxes.  Most newer homes in these districts also include homeowner’s association fees, which further increases the monthly housing cost.  These payments, though treated as a property tax, are not deductible on federal returns. The Pros of a Mello-Roos District Housing inventory is created when new locations are built out. Mello-Roos communities often have lower crime rates and more appealing school districts than non Mello-Roos communities. Fees can only be increased a maximum of 2% per year. The Mello Roos tax is a defined amount based on the property and is not calculated by the property value. Over time, the Mello-Roos bonds get paid off and go away.