SLO council open to idea of 75-foot-tall project downtown

Despite concerns from some residents that building two new 75-foot-tall buildings in downtown San Luis Obispo would diminish the city’s ambience and charm, local leaders said they aren’t scared away by the proposed height.

Not all members of the San Luis Obispo City Council said Tuesday that they would definitely support building to a maximum of 75 feet at Monterey and Santa Rosa streets, where Andrew Firestone and Jess Parker of StonePark Capital and Nick Tompkins of NKT Commercial have proposed a hotel, affordable housing units, and office and commercial space in two structures.

But council members agreed that the location was appropriate for a taller building — one that would definitely exceed the 45-foot height limit in that area.

The height would provide an opportunity to bring a mix of amenities downtown, including much-needed affordable or workforce housing units and a transit center, which has long been discussed for this area of the city.

“There really are a number of incredible benefits being contemplated in this project,” Mayor Jan Marx said.

No action Tuesday

The council did not take action Tuesday, instead giving feedback on a conceptual plan for 1101 Monterey St. Councilman John Ashbaugh recused himself from the discussion, as his wife’s law office is located about 575 feet from the proposed development.

In addition to the hotel and housing elements, the proposal includes a 45-foot-tall public parking garage and a transit center on two adjacent properties fronting Higuera Street.

Firestone is partnering with Peoples’ Self-Help Housing on the residential part of the proposal, which calls for four floors of workforce and affordable housing in one of the buildings.

Kenneth Trigueiro, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the nonprofit organization could create about 60 housing units, each ranging from about 900 to 1,000 square feet — though plans are still preliminary.

Firestone said after the meeting that he’ll take the council’s feedback, along with direction from the city’s Architectural Review Commission and Planning Commission, and incorporate it into a plan.

San Luis Obispo Associate Planner Rachel Cohen said the applicants need to submit a formal application and then staff can determine what additional information — such as a traffic study, a shade analysis or 3-D modeling — might be needed to proceed.

Opposition to plan

Even though the proposal would still need to go through the city’s formal review process — it would return to the Architectural Review Commission, the Planning Commission and the City Council — the meeting drew numerous residents who urged the council to reject a tall building at the location.

“This is not what we want visitors to come and see,” said Sandra Lakeman, professor emeritus of architecture at Cal Poly and member of the grassroots group Save Our Downtown. “This is not what we want to see. We need to look at the neighborhood. ... It’s not going to fit properly.”

Lakeman and resident Cheryl McLean argued that the site is not the best location for affordable housing, with potentially few play areas for children or places for people to walk their dogs within the development.

“We have enough places where affordable housing could be built on a very small scale where it wouldn’t have to be in our face downtown and include gigantic hotels,” McLean said.

But other residents said that mixed-use development, like this proposal, is critical to maintaining the vitality of downtown San Luis Obispo.

“Eventually I would like to move into something smaller like this,” said resident Michelle Tasseff, noting the site’s easy access to the downtown core. It would also provide future residents the ability to interact with diverse groups of people and reduce the amount of time they spend in vehicles.

And Kyle Wiens, co-founder of iFixit at 1330 Monterey St., said the proposal “solves a lot of issues”: It could provide housing for employees who would love to live closer to work and a transit center that could prompt more employees who now commute to the city by car to take a bus instead.

“I’m very excited about a lot of aspects to this, and I’m looking forward to seeing uptown evolve,” he said.

Council supportive

While some opponents argued that the city shouldn’t be held hostage to a 75-foot-tall building to get affordable housing and a transit center downtown, council members didn’t seem to feel the same way.

“I think it’s fantastic that we’re getting an offer of more housing,” said Councilwoman Carlyn Christianson. She added the city’s General Plan “calls for higher buildings in some areas of our downtown if we have a good reason to put them there ... and some of those reasons are housing and transit centers and central locations for people to do things in one place downtown.”

Councilman Dan Carpenter wondered whether the size of the housing units could be reduced to possibly fit 80 instead of 60.

“I don’t know if 60 units is enough,” he said, adding that including housing does drive up the height of the building. “I’m not set at 60 (or) 75 feet; I’d like to see that come back.”

Councilman Dan Rivoire agreed that the housing density should be maximized as much as possible, adding that he was comfortable with the 75-foot height as long as the development incorporates a “thoughtful design,” with stepped-back architectural features.

Responding to concerns about the development setting a precedent for other development along upper Monterey Street, Rivoire said it would be difficult for another project to provide the same mix of public benefits needed in order to build up to 75 feet: affordable housing and pedestrian amenities such as the public plaza and the transit center.

“Retail business owners continue to express concern about the loss of parking downtown,” Rivoire added. “I think the placement of this structure at the end of Higuera is useful and would serve farmers (market) well.”

Marx said she agreed with Carpenter’s views on the height: “Sixty feet might end up being better overall, but if it was done right, I could see it going up to 75 feet in that area.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 5:34 PM with the headline "SLO council open to idea of 75-foot-tall project downtown."