Housing project near Cal Poly is approved by SLO City Council

A mixed-use housing project that calls for 27 apartments plus commercial space near Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo has been given the green light, with advocates noting that it will help relieve the community’s tight rental market.

Protestors claimed that the four-story project would ruin views of nearby hills and lead to a loss of street parking and traffic congestion.

About 100 people attended Tuesday’s San Luis Obispo City Council meeting, where the project was approved 4-1. Councilman John Ashbaugh dissented.

The infill project is at the site of a former gas station at Chorro Street and Foothill Boulevard. It includes 23 two-bedroom units and four studios for very low-income households earning annual income of about $27,000 or less, mechanical parking lifts and 1,600 square feet of commercial space.

Critics of the 22 Chorro St. project also argued that the new housing likely will be occupied by students rather than local workers.

“I don’t see this as affordable housing,” said Coraline Robinson, a Tassajara Drive resident and Cal Poly graduate. “I don’t think that $1,000 per bed and having these tiny units, that are clearly made for students, are going to attract people in the workforce here.”

However, several speakers spoke in favor of the project, saying it will play a role in helping to relieve the tight rental market in the city, regardless of who occupies the units.

The monthly rent for the 23 rental units hasn’t been released. The apartments are close to shopping, bus services and Cal Poly, and also offer 113 bicycle spaces and other amenities, including a patio.

The project includes a bus turnout along Foothill and a green bike lane along Chorro approaching Foothill.

While some say the project’s 33 car parking spaces (an approved 40 percent reduction from the required 55 spaces) will force tenants to park on nearby streets, others believe that limited parking will discourage residents from owning or using cars.

“A phenomena that’s well known among transportation researchers is that if you make parking and driving undesirable, then people do choose to abandon their cars,” said Kim Bisheff, who bikes by the site on her way to work at Cal Poly. “I’m excited about this project for lots of reasons. … I encourage you to continue to support goals of creating sustainable, affordable housing by supporting this project.”

Councilwoman Carlyn Christianson said the younger generation is comfortable biking and using ride services such as Uber and Lyft to get around town.

“What we have had and lived with in our community and country for the last 100 years is going to be different,” Christianson said. “It’s changing now, and it’s going to continue to change. For folks who are concerned with a four-story building on Foothill Boulevard, eventually it’s going to be four stories on a lot of Foothill.”

But Ashbaugh called the proposal a threat to the neighbors’ quality of life.

He cited a host of issues that he believes will be detrimental, including the building’s 43-foot maximum height (35 feet is normally allowed) and its 35 percent density bonus — incentives granted because the project includes affordable housing.

“This will be looking down into the backyards of neighbors, and it will be a noise center,” Ashbaugh said. “The impacts have not been adequately considered. We have a very sacred obligation to consider the interests of neighbors.”

Ashbaugh said he questioned whether the mechanical lift system that would stack cars in parking spaces would be reliable and safe, and whether too many cars in an already tight parking zone would create significant challenges for area residents and the city.

But while calling it a “difficult project to consider,” Mayor Jan Marx said the state laws regarding affordable housing carried significant weight in the council’s decision on the project, putting the burden of proof on the council to show that the density would create adverse impacts affecting the health, safety and welfare of the community. Marx, who voted in favor of the project, said that in a sense, the council’s “hands are tied.”

“I’ve always supported affordable and smart growth,” Marx said. “The city will have to absorb more density if we don’t want to sprawl out like Southern California. The presence of a green belt around the city means we won’t sprawl out because we want to maintain the green belt.”

The city has the option to create a parking district that would limit parking in the area to those who live there, but that initiative would have to be taken up separately in future planning discussions.

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Housing project near Cal Poly is approved by SLO City Council."