HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/19/2017 Item 15, Palmer
Christian, Kevin
From:William Palmer <bpalmer25@me.com>
Sent:Monday, September
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Proposed Avila Ranch Project
Dear Council,
My family has lived just off of Buckley Road for the past 60 years. In fact, our family milked cows in the Round Barn
when it operated as a working dairy. In addition, our family owns a private school located at South Higuera and LOVR.
Consequently, I am very, very aware of the current traffic safety issues surrounding Buckley Road, South Higuera and
Highway 227 out to Edna.
For a point of reference, when I was teaching my children to drive over 10 years ago, I used to tell them the most
dangerous part of their drive to school was turning onto Buckley Road from Davenport Creek Road. I travel Buckley
Road, several times per day. Speeds on the road are often seen in excess of 80 mph. There are numerous, 90 degree,
blind intersections on the road. It is heavily trafficked by trash trucks, Ag equipment and daily commuters in and out of
SLO. Traffic at the South Higuera / Vachell area is already in excess of the resources available, causing huge backups in
the morning and evening. The same situation exists at the East end of Buckley at 227. Again, traffic backs up at that light
as well.
A reasonable person, can easily see that no matter how much traffic mitigation is built into the project, the addition of a
project even 1/10 the size of the proposed Avila Ranch 720 homes would heavily impact the safety and reasonable flow
of traffic in an area that is already overloaded.
Furthermore, the thought that the addition of "low income housing" is necessary, at any cost to our City is seemingly
silly. Quite frankly, that ship has sailed. SLO is pretty much mirroring the same growth pattern as Santa Barbara has seen
over the years. The addition of a few "low income" housing units is appealing from a developers point of view as a carrot
to use to sway the City to accept a development that is way too big for this area of the City to accommodate. I've also
heard that the development is going to levy a costly, HOA fee on its residents. How does the addition of a big, monthly
HOA fee square with providing low income housing? This is a valid question to be asked.
In summary, the Avila Ranch project is simply too large for this corner of the City to absorb. This is especially true when
the impact of this development is added to the impact of other, current and known future developments in the area.
Personally, I hate to see beautiful Ag land developed. That said, if this development is to go ahead at the grand scale
being sold to the City, I am gravely concerned for the safety of drivers and bicyclists on Buckley Road and surrounding
areas. The huge addition of traffic that the development will bring will result in an even more dangerous, Buckley Road.
Finally, and not a minor issue, there are several times of year when the rising and setting sun, is low and directly in the
eyes of travelers on Buckley Road. I am personally aware of two individuals that have lost their lives on Buckley Road,
due to this anomaly. Do you really want to add thousands of trips a day to Buckley Road, without serious concern for the
safety of us that already live in the area? How will you react, should additional lives be lost on Buckley, when you have
the ability to make the decision to mitigate that possibility? Look at the history. We have lost citizens of SLO on Buckley
Road in the past. The addition of the Avila Ranch will increase that likelihood by a factor we cannot simply ignore.
Respectfully Submitted,
William Palmer
740 Evans Road
SLO, Ca
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