HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/7/2019 Item 3, Cooper
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Allan Cooper <saveourdowntownslo@gmail.com>
Sent:Sunday, October
To:Advisory Bodies; Burde, Richard
Subject:Public Hearing Item #3: 747 Monterey: Conceptual review of the “Mission Plaza
Restroom and Café”
Attachments:010_06_19...lettertoarc.pdf
Dear Richard -
Would you kindly forward the letter attached below to the ARC before their Monday, October 7, 2019 meeting? This
letter pertains to Public Hearing Item #3. Thanks!
- Allan
Allan Cooper, Secretary - Save Our Downtown, San Luis Obispo, CA
Website: www.SaveOurDowntownSLO.com
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Save Our Downtown
______________________________________________________________________________
Seeking to protect and promote the historical character, design, livability and economic
success of downtown San Luis Obispo.
To: San Luis Obispo Architectural Review Commission & Richard Burde, Engineer III
Re: Public Hearing Item #3 - 747 Monterey - Conceptual review of the “Mission
Plaza Restroom and Café”
From: Allan Cooper, Secretary Save Our Downtown
Date: October 6, 2019
Honorable Chair and Commissioners -
We are urging you to dispense with the thematic use of dark gray and black on these buildings -
buildings located in direct proximity to the Old Mission. Permit us to share with you five reasons
for avoiding these colors.
1)From a functional point of view, dark buildings increase security concerns and discourage
the use of these spaces, particularly at night, because they do little to reflect light.
2)From a psychological point of view the color black negatively connotes death and
mourning while darker colors and dimly lit spaces contribute to psychological depression.
3)This color palette is inconsistent with the SLO Community Design Guidelines. These
Guidelines state the following: “Colors should be compatible with the existing colors of
the surrounding area…Consider the quality of natural and reflected light in public spaces
within and around the project site and choose materials and colors to enhance lighting
effects…”
4)From an historical point of view, black, a color which brings to mind charred wood, tar or
hewn lava, has little to do with the history of the Mission Era . 1
5)Dark pigmentation overall creates heat islands making our streets unpleasantly hot in the
summer months. Climate-scientists tell us that should we turn enough of the world's
black urban landscape white, this would reflect enough sunlight to keep global warming at
bay. This would grant us some precious breathing space in our global struggle to control
carbon emissions.
To conclude, this faddish fixation on black and dark gray increases security concerns, is
inconsistent with our Design Guidelines and is ahistorical. Finally, it clearly sends mixed signals
regarding our efforts to counter global warming. Thank you!
The Mission Era was dominated by the use of whitewashed adobe or stucco, a vernacular building 1
technique imported by the Spanish missionaries from southern Europe and North Africa. We would do
well to familiarize ourselves with an indigenous technology that was primarily a passive response to
climate. For thousands of years, buildings were traditionally whitewashed in the spring, as the rainy
season subsided. This bright white coating protected the interior from summer heat. With the arrival of
Spring and Winter, the rains would wash off the white lime to reveal the darker substrate colors of adobe
or stucco. These darker colors absorbed heat during the cold winter months.