VIEWPOINT

By Mayor Dave Romero

 

I have spent a lifetime working to improve San Luis Obispo and would like to share with you some of the reasons I am such a strong advocate for the Marketplace project:

 

1. SHOPPERS NEED IT.  SLO has lost its place as the regional shopping area as nearby cities have welcomed major stores.  Our residents, in search of greater selection and better prices, have taken many of their dollars to these cities. The Marketplace will help solve that problem.

 

2. MOTORISTS NEED IT. The Marketplace provides a unique opportunity to improve traffic movement through the construction of an interchange at 101 connecting to an extension of Prado Road to Broad Street.  Without this new cross-town connection, traffic congestion will worsen on Madonna Road, Lower Higuera, South, Broad, and Tank Farm, especially as our new Margarita Area housing supply builds out.

 

3. CITY TAXPAYERS NEED IT. The Marketplace is projected to generate in excess of  $1.5million/yr in NEW taxes. Some of these new revenues will help pay off the bonds for the interchange and the remainder will help the city maintain our traditionally high service levels to citizens.

 

4. LOVERS OF OPEN SPACE NEED IT. The City and the Dalidio Family have worked out an agreement to forever preserve 55 acres of the Dalidio Farm, thus retaining views from the freeway and allowing continuation of agriculture operations. The City will also receive funds to buy 24 additional acres of open space near the city’s southern boundary where “sprawl” is a real threat.

 

5. DOWNTOWN NEEDS IT. The kind of the stores in the Marketplace are carefully planned to minimize competition with the downtown. Movie theaters are prohibited and penalties have been negotiated to discourage attracting stores from the Downtown to the center. Stores such as Target, Loews, Old Navy and Whole Foods will attract many shoppers from other cities, who can then conveniently visit and enjoy the special offerings of downtown. 

 

6. FAMILIES LOOKING FOR MORE-AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEED IT. Even with open space, flood plain and airport related limitations, the project will provide 60 affordable housing units.

 

7. IF THE MARKETPLACE IS TURNED DOWN BY CITY VOTERS, A PROJECT IS LIKELY TO BE APPROVED BY THE COUNTY.  The Dalidio Farm is not within the city limits; it is in the County.  A majority of the Supervisors have indicated that if the City can’t stick to an agreement, then the County should provide Mr. Dalidio with a level of fair play and property rights. Therefore, I believe the County will approve a project.  a County project won’t include all the benefits we have negotiated –open space, an interchange, downtown protections, and affordable housing.  Most importantly, there would be zero City environmental and planning review, and zero tax revenue.  Instead, every dime (including those “transferred” from other businesses in town) will go straight into County coffers.  Those who advocate gambling that the County won’t approve a project are taking an unacceptable risk with our future.   

 

8.  MARKETPLACE PROPONENTS HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF BALANCE AND SERVICE.  Consider the six people who signed the ballot argument:  Ken Schwartz, longtime Mayor, councilman and “Father of Mission Plaza”, Dodie Williams, former council member and Downtown Executive Director, Vice Mayor John Ewan, long time open space and environmental advocate, Lauren Brown, business man and open space advocate, and myself, Mayor Dave, a person who has served this community for nearly all my life and who loves every square inch of it. 

 

For all of these reasons, I urge every voter in San Luis Obispo to join us on April 26 in supporting the Marketplace to create an ever-better San Luis Obispo.