From:Gary Goldhawk
To:City Council
Subject:Sidewalk Requirement for Shell Beach House Remodel - May 7th Council Meeting Date:Thursday, April 25, 2024 4:06:04 PM
External Email
Dear City Council,
My name is Gary Goldhawk and I’m the owner of 238 El Portal in Shell Beach. We have recently received approval for a building permit to remodel and expand this home built in 1957.
One of the many issues we encountered during the approval process was the change in requirements for adding a sidewalk to the front of the property where none exists today. We were initially told by your planner, Mike Gruver, that a remodel would not trigger a sidewalk requirement. We were later told by your engineer, Ben Fine, that a sidewalk would need to be added. Now, my understanding from Scot Graham is that staff has drafted a report recommending sidewalks not be added to projects in Shell Beach pending City Council concurrence. Below is my note to Ben explaining my position. To net it out, adding a sidewalk to our project goes against precedence, adds no utility (it will never be connected to another stretch of sidewalk) or esthetic value and simply represents another unnecessary cost to our project. We have done everything possible to create a project consistent with the City’s Design Standards, by scaling back to a remodel as opposed to a new build in an effort to preserve the character of the neighborhood and adding a sidewalk is not consistent with the existing character.
Best Regards
Gary
Dear Ben,
I appreciate you stepping out of your meeting to spend a few minutes on the phone with me just now - my apologies if I kept you too long. My goal in addressing the sidewalk requirement is not to be argumentative, I simply want to be subject to the same standards/requirements as other owners who’ve executed similar recent projects and in alignment with the guidance we were given by Pismo Planning when we scaled our project back from a new build to a remodel/expansion of the existing dwelling, consistent with the city’s preference for these projects as stated in the City’s Design Standards.
As I’m sure you can appreciate, adding a sidewalk to our project has broader implications and expenses than just the sidewalk itself. It likely requires us to revisit the grading plan for the entire lot frontage, install more landscaping (retaining wall or other) to keep the sidewalk usable and from being an eyesore/hazard as well as potentially requiring some regrading of our driveway the slope of which already posses challenges for a couple in their 60’s. All of this
work is at our expense and subject to approval of the city since it resides in the city’s right of way.
What I don’t understand is what’s different about our project when compared to the multitude of similar projects previously approved and executed on El Portal, none of which were subject to a sidewalk requirement? On a street with approximately 60 homes, 90% of which have been remodeled extensively or rebuilt, not one has required a city approved/compliant sidewalk. Two homes that exceeded the 50% remodel/addition requirement - both very similar to our project - were begun in 2022 and completed this earlier year (see addresses 325 and 424).
The only homes currently under construction, one of which I know is subject to the sidewalk requirement, are completely new builds, not remodel/expansions.
Pismo Planning was very clear the requirements and process for a new build verses a remodel/expansion are different, including the sidewalk requirement and that the city prefers remodel/expansions to preserve the character of the neighborhoods. All this begs the question - if sidewalks were not a priority/requirement for the roughly 50 projects that preceded us on El Portal, what has changed? If a new ordinance was recently passed, I’d be grateful if you could provide a copy.
We are excited to re-join the central coast community, the place my wife, Robin Goldhawk (nee Loomis), grew up and where we met each other. We have poured significant time, effort and financial resources into pursuing our dream of moving back. I’m simply asking you to consider the situation objectively from our perspective and the precedent that has been long established. Requiring us to install and sidewalk and do the additional related work to integrate that into our project is establishing a new precedent for El Portal, not enforcing the existing.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain myself and I look forward to hearing back from you.