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Home My WebLink About01-10-2018 Item 4 - Cooper Purrington, Teresa From:Davidson, Doug Sent:Wednesday, January 10, 2018 3:37 PM To:Purrington, Teresa Subject:FW: Requesting An S-Zone Designation For The Commercial Developments Flanking Dana, Lincoln & North Higuera Streets Attachments:601_06_17...szonelettertopc.pdf Here is Cooper’s correspondence. Thanks From: Sandra Rowley \[ ] Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2018 3:31 PM To: Bell, Kyle <KBell@slocity.org>; Davidson, Doug <ddavidson@slocity.org> Subject: Fw: Requesting An S-Zone Designation For The Commercial Developments Flanking Dana, Lincoln & North Higuera Streets ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Allan Cooper < To: Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2018 2:35 PM Subject: Requesting An S-Zone Designation For The Commercial Developments Flanking Dana, Lincoln & North Higuera Streets Dear Doug and Kyle - Would you kindly forward the letter attached below to the Planning Commission so that they will have a chance to review it before their Wednesday, January 10, 2018 meeting? As an aside, I have to thank both of you for placing at the last PC meeting the discussion of the Zoning Regulations Update at the top of the Planning Commission's agenda (even though I was unable to attend!). Would you consider doing this again, considering that there may be a large turnout of residents from the San Luis Drive, Dana Street and North Higuera neighborhoods possibly interested in this topic? Thanks! 1 - Allan 2 To: SLO Planning Commission, Doug Davidson and Kyle Bell Re: Proposed Revisions to Ordinance 1130 and the S Zone From: Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo Date: January 6, 2018 Honorable Chair Stevenson and Commissioners - I applaud what the San Luis Drive neighborhood is attempting to do (see below) by tweaking the S Zone. However, there is only one error in Dr. Lucas’s letter where he says “Aware that change is inevitable, they draft an ordinance to ensure that such changes will be sensitive to the environment as well as to the unique juxtaposition of their R-1 neighborhood next to a Commercial/Toursit zoned area, the only such juxtaposition in San Luis.” However, there is indeed another R-1 neighborhood separated by a sensitive riparian corridor from a C-T zone. Those are the residents along the east side of Lincoln Street between Mountain View to the South and Venable Street to the north. For that reason an S Zone should overlay the Tourist Commercial properties ﬂanking the north and west sides of Olive Street and both sides of Montalban Street west of Santa Rosa. This cannot happen too soon. In 2016, a massive 4-story hotel located within this very same C- T zone at 1042 Olive Street was appealed by a group of neighboring motel owners. They lost their appeal. The property, along with the permitted plans, is now up for sale. But once the new property owner completes the construction of this overbearing structure, the neighbors on Lincoln Street will certainly take notice. Perhaps more importantly, because of the development pressures occurring there presently, there should be an S Zone overlaid onto the C-R and C-D zones that are separated by San Luis Creek from the R-3-H Dana Street residents. The Dana Street neighborhood deserves the same considerations given to the San Luis Drive neighborhood. These residents conveyed the very same concerns articulated by the San Luis Drive neighbors in their appeal (which they lost) of the 4-story South Town Eighteen project at 560 Higuera Street. These concerns included 1) car headlights which should have been shielded from the Dana Street homes; 2) car noise that would require a sound buffer (not just vegetation); 3) noise emanating from the balconies; and 4) privacy concerns because of overlook onto the residences. These residences had an additional problem, which San Luis Drive residents are spared, which was that there were winter solstice shadows cast from this 4-story building onto Dana Street’s back yards including some solar panel arrays. Just as the developers of the Monterey Hotel used the implausible argument that a hotel smaller than 100 rooms wouldn’t “pencil out”, so did the developers of South Town Eighteen argue that lowering the project’s density would increase the project’s costs and that this was unacceptable. As if this wasn’t enough, the Dana Street residents are now wrestling with another four story building at 1027 Nipomo Street which is also separated from their neighborhood by San Luis Creek. With the exception of the intrusion of car headlights, all of the previously mentioned concerns obtained: noise emanating from the balconies, overlook concerns, long shadows plus incompatibility with adjacent historic structures. Fortunately, this project was denied by the CHC and continued by the ARC last September. I am also asking you to consider an S Zone overlay on the C-T and C-R Zones which ﬂank the south side of upper Monterey between Grove and Johnson Streets. Even though the residences abutting this area and located along the north side of Higuera Street are zoned Office (with the exception of the block between Pepper and Johnson which is zoned R-3) and are not separated by a sensitive riparian corridor, nearly all of these structures remain well- maintained, single story residences. The imminent prospect of a 4-story (45 foot tall) structure replacing the existing one- and two-story Los Padres Inn has already generated considerable controversy among these neighbors. These neighbors also deserve the special considerations that an S-Zone affords. Finally, like the North Higuera neighborhood where there is no intervening creek between the contiguous commercial and residential zones, that portion of the C-C-SF Zone immediately abutting the R-1 residences along the north side of Rougeot Place and a small portion of North Chorro should have an S Zone designation. Had this happened earlier, the 4-story 22 Chorro project would have had to address these additional S-Zone constraints. This would surely have brought it more into scale with the adjacent R-1 neighborhood. Thank you! __________________________________ Summary of Proposed Revisions to Ordinance 1130 - S Zone Bob Lucas (representing San Luis Drive neighborhood) Change the current ordinance from staggering setbacks facing the creek where “a building 25 feet tall must be setback 20 feet from the from the creek (i.e., the relocated C/OS-5 boundary) to a building 25 feet tall must be setback 50 feet” Another proposed change involves reducing the maximum building height permitted in the 80 foot setback from 45 feet to 35 feet. By increasing minimum setbacks from the creek from 20 feet to 50 feet (consistent with C/OS zones) then the staggering setbacks facing the creek must be changed to where a building 25 feet tall must be setback between 50 feet to 80 feet of the creek and a building 35 feet tall must be setback further than 80 feet from the creek. Change “minimize” balconies and doors to “eliminate” balconies and doors Add rooftop pools are prohibited. Add glazing shall not reﬂect sunlight toward the Creek. Add windows facing the creek will be no larger than the minimum required by the Fire Code. Add to “signiﬁcant damage to vegetation” to the prohibition of removing vegetation. Add “The creekside setback area and/or the area beneath the high berm on the creekside shall not be used for a public or urban trail”. Add buildings functioning solely as conference/convention centers are not allowed. Add rooms used primarily for social gatherings shall not face the creek. Add openings into parking garages facing the creek are prohibited. Add over-the-counter changes shall be a matter of public record. Add any alteration to an existing development must be subject to a use permit approved by the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Commission. The argument that a hotel with fewer than 100 rooms with a 45 foot building height would “pencil out” is belied by the fact that smaller hotels are thriving such as the San Luis Creek Lodge (25 rooms) and the the three story high Holiday Inn and Quality Suites. The Monterey Hotel sets a precedent for other C/S zoned parcels nearby such as the Peach Tree Inn and Daylight Gardens as they are candidates for future projects that could maximize opportunities for inﬁll.