The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce recently presented the City’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) task force with a comprehensive list of recommendations for the plan.
The specific recommendations include adding bike lanes, revitalizing certain gateway corridors in the city, and detailed rezoning and preservation opportunities.
“As a community business organization we recognize that it is critical to ensure we preserve the open space and quality of life that make SLO such a great place to live and work while simultaneously planning strategic growth opportunities for its residents,” said Charlene Rosales, SLO Chamber’s director of governmental affairs.
The LUCE update, to be implemented in 2015, will be used by the City as a blueprint for the next 20 years to determine the location of future housing, business, industry and open space as well as to define how locals and visitors alike move throughout town, all while preserving the surrounding natural resources.
“This document will not only be used determine how and where SLO will be able to grow its local business sector but also where residential growth will take place,” Rosales said.
The SLO Chamber has worked to gather insight and information from many diverse entities throughout the city to provide the 14-member task force with a list of specific recommendations to be considered for the plan.
The SLO Chamber’s LUCE task force produced a list of site and circulation recommendations for specific areas throughout town, which has been given to the City’s advisory committee for consideration.
Here are a few of the Chamber’s recommendations:
• As a tourism gateway into the city, the area around Foothill Boulevard at Santa Rosa Street should be improved to look more aesthetically pleasing and facilitate better traffic flow into the center of town.
• The Dalidio-Madonna area should include a balance of housing and commercial space combined with open space to preserve the view from Highway 101.
• The Caltrans site on the corner of Higuera Street and Madonna Road presents an opportunity for revitalization and gateway enhancement with some high-density mixed-use buildings.
• The old Pacheco School location on the corner of Slack Street and Grand Avenue could be used to create a buffer with medium or high-density residential units.
• The area surrounding the 40 Prado Road Homeless Services Shelter should be repurposed for light industrial and commercial uses.
“The Chamber’s Task Force has taken a holistic and critical look at each of the items and given feedback to the City’s working group,” said Stacey White, principal of mode ASSOCIATES and chair of the Chamber’s LUCE Task Force. “The update is the City’s chance to address current inequities regarding available housing, opportunities for economic growth, infrastructure for all types of transportation and badly needed community amenities.”
The SLO Chamber will continue to participate and advocate on behalf of our members and work to provide the latest information through this ongoing process.