From:ShellBeachOma
To:City Council
Subject:March 7, 2023, Council Agenda Item 3-A
Date:Tuesday, March 7, 2023 10:28:51 AM
External Email
March 7, 2023
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers:
We are aware of the agenda item on tonight’s closed session regarding “negotiation and settlement” for property owners involved in a planned creation of public access between Terrace and Vista Del Mar. Many years ago, one neighbor opened his fence to allow this informal access, which resulted in numerous and continuous disruptions, theft, noise, property damage and nuisance for ALL of us whose property are affected.
For example, my front yard, street curb and driveway were repeatedly used for parents to pick up their children from Shell Beach Elementary school (who didn’t want to navigate the long line for pick up). I repeatedly reminded parents that this is not a safe option. One day, on my way home, as I turned to enter my driveway I glanced away to open the garage door suddenly to find a 5-6 year old boy sitting cross-legged in the middle of my driveway! I came within a few feet of hitting him. I stayed with him until his mother arrived, told her what happened and requested she never repeat that scenario. I continue, to this day, to be very upset when recalling how close I came to hitting that little boy.
Originally, this unfenced pathway was opened by the neighbor to allow children to get to school without having to walk on Shell Beach Road, which was considered “dangerous” by many parents and neighbors. Since that time, however, Pismo Beach has spent millions of dollars on the Shell Beach Village improvement, which includes a magnificent bike/walk path, many stop signs, bulb- outs, and crosswalks. Now, this is a much safer route to school.
Also, I want to add that our legal ADU (264 VdM) was broken into a few years ago and a police report was completed This ADU is just a few feet from the proposed access, and our original tenant (now 13 years with us) will move if noise and nuisance disrupts her life more than the existing car/foot traffic does. This ADU provides us with needed retirement income.
Another concern relates to the Chapman House fundraisers. We supported the Pismo Beach acquisition of the Chapman House. During public comment at a council meeting, I spoke favorably to this acquisition as well as to the plan to have guests park at the elementary school and be shuttled to Chapmans. With open access through our properties, I expect these guests would choose to walk to Chapmans and return (buzzed from alcohol) through our properties to their cars. We never supported this scenario, and those concerns also need addressing.
I met with Officer Down (Pismo Beach Police) whom I contacted yesterday for input on safety and security concerns related to this proposed access development and below is a summary of our visit.
After seeing the easement areas, questions asked by Officer Downs include “how will the city protect the safety and security of the owners whose properties include the PRIVATE easement?”
And of course, “how will the city protect the safety and security of homeowners involved directly along the created PUBLIC access?” ( Lighting, cameras, additional police surveillance, etc.) He stated that the creation of this public access “will create issues”.
He was not aware of the existence of this easement area and was thankful to me for bringing it to his attention. He will pass along this information to Officer Ellis, who is our neighborhood My Cop.
Mayor and Councilmembers, we, too, would like you to address these concerns before any further action is taken. After the completion of the beautiful Shell Beach Village improvement, and with the completion of bluff sidewalk, sea wall and new stairs on Ocean Ave, we certainly expect an increase in visitor traffic to the area. We support this. We want the beach to be appreciated and enjoyed. However, with this proposed access through our property, we do not expect the city of Pismo Beach to prioritize the freedoms and enjoyment of tourists over the safety, security and protection of your residents.
Thank you for your time and attention to our concerns.
Diane and George Glaser
262 Vista Del Mar
Shell Beach, CA 93449
805.540.1826