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Hi Sandra --
Home changes: This week on the Planning Commission agenda, Tues. 6PM, Vintage Hall, there are three: Stockton St., Vintage Ave. and Allyn Ave. It kind of goes without saying these days that if you do not check out everything that is in the Consent and Public Hearing sections of every agenda, you may realize too late that a big thing is happening in front of your favorite view, bedroom window or sunlight. Applicants often present elaborate landscaping plans to 'mitigate' the problem and these are most often accepted but landscaping is transitory by definition.
Grandview: There is a request by Los Alcobas Hotel (Grandview) to go from 57 rooms to 70 rooms. Staff is recommending approval BUT this is a signal that the people surrounding Grandview need to check on the impact to them and make their case known, if any. Public review of this project has been infrequent and unfortunately, in publicly sensitive areas, mission creep is sometimes employed as a viable business plan.
Jewelry Stores: Next is a re-run of the jewelry store issue as jewelry store owners protest an OK by the City to allow the move of a jewelry store to move to another location which apparently was not a jewelry store (the permit rides with the property). Should be interesting to see how all of this can be 'local serving' if we are to adhere to the operating General Plan.
Housing: And finally, the big enchilada, a Study Session on the updated Housing Element! Take a good look at this -- the maps, the statistics, the locations for new housing, all there. But consider we can't be local serving if we do not have a 'local' to begin with -- fair residential housing (not vacation or 2nd home) is needed in order to have a community that functions and serves the people who live here.
Links that matter:
- George Caloyannidis' letter about where we are headed -- said to be the best thing written in a long time.
- A picture of the Napa River Searise from the BCDC website's paper, Living With a Rising Bay.
- San Joaquin County's moratorium on wine events.
- Article on the increasingly unequal economy in the western US -- excellent and proof of why voting is important!
Special requests to the City: If there is to be no action on the new General Plan until next fall, may the topic be agendized in order to let people know and why? Also, may the community be informed of the results of the Budget Survey before the budget meeting, coming soon?
Sandy
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