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PC 08.a - Supplemental Memo2 MEMORANDUM TO: PLANNING COMMISSION FROM: TERESA McCLISH, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BY: MATTHEW DOWNING, ASSOCIATE PLANNER SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION AGENDA ITEM 8.a. – DECENBER 1, 2015 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING CONSIDERATION OF LOT MERGER 15-004, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 15-007, AND MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2015 Attached is correspondence received after agenda preparation regarding the subject project. Copies of these letters will be available for the Planning Commission at the meeting. Attachment: 1. Correspondence from Susane Rotalo 2. Correspondence from Judith Bernstein Re: Public Hearing: Tuesday. Dec. L 2015 Lot Merger Case# 15-004, Conditional Use Permit: #15-007 Construction of 51-room Boutique Hotel at 325 E. Branch Street Arroyo Grande, CA From: SussJ1P K Rotalo 103 T e Pointe Terrace Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 Date· 1 Decemher 201 ) I am extremely concerned about the building of a hotel at the eastern end of Arrovo Grande Village, which is in my direct neighborhood because of several reasons: L This bui I ding will change the atmosohere of the quaint Arroyo Grande Village because most of the buildings in this area are obviously smaller and stylized to fit the quaint atmosphere of our neighborhood. This is a large impact building and will bring an exorbitant amount of people and traffic into a small area and street 2. Traffic impact is crucial because this area is already congested and at times of the day it is almost impossible to move freely through these streets on a two-lane road with feeding roads from the Paulding School and other work traffic. The East end of AG Village does not have access as it is to accommodate more traffic, which this business would demand. When Paulding School traffic is impacted with student drop-offs in the mornings and afternoons daily, it is basically a standstill for those of us who live in this neighborhood or for anyone else going to and from Lopez Drive (Huasna Road) or the Village. Adding the traffic in and out for a ~l;;: room hotel everyday would be an added bottleneck disaster. 3. Having a hotel of this size in the quaint AG Village changes the entire demeanor of our town. We have kept building to a minimum for years with major restrictions to homes and businesses. so why allow a large hotel to change that norm now? Couldn't this hotel be built in another part of the city of Arroyo Grande and not directly in the Village neighborhood? I do not understand how city planners can ,iusti(y prohibiting a much-needed grocery store to be build in the East Village, yet want to allow a 51-room hotel with excessive daily traffic. Locals don't need the hoteL but we DO need a local grocery store! This makes no logical or aesthetic sense for our Village and neighborhood and I am adamantly opposed to this permit being granted for our area. Thank you for considering these concerns and for NOT allowing this permit to be granted. /7 ,, j/ Sincerely, ,// • J . ·• .. ,,,::-~1 ;"7r .. /i l{ .. : // ,//\_,_ / (/ '(,,,/cf.~ \.el ~, j \_ ~--z-----· Susane K.'R.otalo RECEIVED DEC 1 2015 CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Teresa McClish From: Sent: To: Subject: judith bernstein Tuesday, December 01, 2015 3:15 PM Teresa McClish planning commission hearing tonight on hotel I realize that it's late in the game to put in a comment, but i just saw the hearing notice over the weekend and read (not all 154 pages but a lot) the report. Although the design element seems to have met with approval, i do have some comments on same. First: arroyo grande is already a hodge podge of architectural styles. To add yet one more, Monterey Colonial, seems to just aggravate the situation. I worked in Monterey and know the style well and like it when placed in an appropriate context. I don't think our downtown "old town" is that context. I also googled the style and looked at slides of about 100 examples and still am of the same opinion. I certainly don't want to see anything like Spanish Colonial or Mission, or one more native stone building, but i think there are good alternatives including a contemporary style. As a side note, the word used to characterize the design was "simplistic' and that's not correct. I think someone meant "simple". Second; Rather than appearing like a 'boutique hotel', the design smacks of 'motel' and in fact reminds me of a Motel 6 I stayed in near the San Jose Airport! Most boutique hotels in our area, such as Le Cheval in Paso and the Granada in San Luis Obispo, look distinctly different than a motel. They are not one monolithic building--the Granada is a two? story bldg with a rooftop sitting area and Le Cheval is broken up into sections with a courtyard. Both have the advantage of a pleasant sitting area and le Chevel gains a lot of drop in customers to its bar by having tables placed on the street as well as inside. From what I can see of the design, there is nothing to attract pedestrians to the hotel. Maybe we already have too many bars/restaurants, but even though the hotel is set back from the street, something could be included so it is not so isolated or maybe the word is insulated? from the town. Otherwise, I welcome an attractive hotel as we have many motels but nothing of this type. Judith Bernstein MA Urban Planning, UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning