HomeMy WebLinkAboutWhite - Zoning Update - 08/20/18
Sheffield, Alexis
From:Linda White <lindaleewhite15@gmail.com>
Sent:Saturday, August 18, 2018 3:44 PM
To:CityClerk
Subject:Public Hearing #17
Please see that this is distributed to the entire City Council, Planning Commission, and ARC
I have been back in San Luis for only three weeks after 18-months of travel. I have not kept up with SLO civic
matters and read few e-mails while gone. However, now that I am back for six months, I am trying to catch up.
1. The Anholm neighborhood is truly the last remaining traditional "neighborhood" in SLO. It is still what my
Monterey Heights neighborhood used to be---workforce housing, families, retired, students(K through CP), etc.
I love being able to visit my friend on Chorro St., park my car near her house and then walk through the
neighborhood, visiting with other residents, like I used to do in MH.
Please don't ruin the Anholm neighborhood with increased density, reduced parking, increased traffic, dead
ends, etc.
2. I keep hearing "New state law mandates..." as the excuse for increasing building heights, residential density,
decreased parking, etc. Where is the mandate for the increase in downtown building height to accommodate
increased exclusive hotel rooms?
We are losing the quaint SLO atmosphere that attracted us from Orange County, Santa Monica, LA, SF, etc.
Didn't the Tribune publish an article some months back about Santa Barbara's difficulty in attracting tenants to
State St.? Don't let SLO follow in their footsteps.
3. I don't see how "starting in the high $700,000s" is workforce housing. Who, other than CP, SLO city and
county administrators, business owners, RE investors, established attorneys and doctors can afford a home that
expensive? I know that my born-in-SLO daughter who is an ICU nurse at a SLO hospital can't afford to
buy. Could a firefighter, policeman, teacher, CP secretary, new professor, afford to buy? What about the
caregivers, gardeners, nurses' aides, etc.
4. Why doesn't the city work out some sort of tax deal where the Tank Farm land, polluted for years with
petroleum and is finally being cleaned up, be transferred to SLO in exchange for tax write-offs. This land could
be given the HASLO or People's Self Help and a "real neighborhood" designed with true starter homes, small
homes, condos, etc. I have recently downsized to 435 sq. ft. and have never been happier.
5. Stop allowing developers and staff to tell you how the state law "mandates" you to approve off- campus-
student projects like 32 Chorro, ?? Palomar, and now the old McDonalds. Get a backbone and begin to push CP
to house their increasing student population on campus---and not over the next ??? years but now. Stop giving
developers concessions to increase density and profits when they promise to give the city a couple of
"affordable by design" closets for people to live in.
6. Stop discriminating against the SLO workforce and families in favor of student housing and wealthy, white,
retired luxury living.
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7. Begin to stand up to staff who limit & narrow the "Purview" of the advisory bodies to such a degree that they
are unable to discuss the real concerns of the public
8. Don't "streamline" the process so that the public input is drastically reduced. Involve the public earlier in the
development of projects. The city staff is supposed to work for the citizens, not the developers.
I have to add, that I am not anti-growth. I know that we must grow but let's do it in a sensible manner, taking
care of infrastructure, needs of ALL residents, and in a direction of diversity and inclusivity.
Sorry this is so long and covers more than Item 17 but this is 18 months of catching up. I agree wholeheartedly
with comments made by Allan Cooper.
Why not make up an advisory committee of experts within the community who are now retired. I have heard
geologists, hydrologists, city planners, former city leaders, etc. give testimony in the past. Utilize this wealth
of talent that we have in this town before it is no longer the SLO that we fell in love with.
I have to add, that I am not anti-growth or anit-bike. I know that we must grow but let's do it in a sensible
manner, taking care of infrastructure, needs of ALL residents, and in a direction of diversity and inclusivity.
Linda White
2077 Slack St.
San Luis Obispo, CA
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