HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/1/2017 Item 1, Ayral
Christian, Kevin
From:odileayral@gmail.com on behalf of Odile Ayral <oayral@calpoly.edu>
Sent:Monday, May 29, 2017 12:09 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Budget
Mayor Harmon and Council Members,
I am urging you to leave the money earmarked for a park in the North Broad area where it belongs. This money
was given by the last Council, and we expect the new Council to honor their promise.
The park situation in this area is a great deal worse than you think because there is no city park for the entire
northwestern side of the city, from Santa Rosa all the way to Bishop Peak, and from Higuera all the way up to
Ferrini Heights. The so-called Throop park is not a real park, it is the property of the school district, and they
can do whatever they want with it. I discovered this the hard way a few years ago when the school district
decided to move Pacheco school to what had been Teach school since the 1940s. They needed to show they
had enough land to increase the student population to 500, and they included Throop Park as school grounds. I
protested and contacted the park and recreation department. At this point, I learned that the park was indeed
school property, they could take it back any time they wanted, and the present arrangement was that the school
district lent them the land, and the park and recreation department maintained it. Therefore if the school district
decides it needs the land for whatever reason, the so-called park goes away, leaving almost one quarter of the
city without any park.
If you look at a San Luis Obispo map, you will see that all areas of San Luis Obispo have city parks, except for
the northwestern side. The north east has Cuesta and Santa Rosa Parks, the center has Mitchell and Emerson
parks, the south west has Meadow park, south east Sinsheimer, and Laguna Lake has Laguna Lake. These are
real parks owned by the city. But the large northwest area has nothing at all.
It seems to me that it is high time to remedy this unfair situation instead of ransacking the little money that has
been set aside. I am aware that land on North Broad is limited, but the park could be located in any easily
accessible northwest part of the city where land is available. I am therefore asking you to take this problem
seriously and to find the right land to finally create a city park in this area. Thank you.
Odile Ayral
1