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closeThe City Council will consider a request Tuesday from owners of 1,380 acres at Foothill Boulevard and Los Osos Valley Road to be annexed into San Luis Obispo.
The landowners — including members of the Twisselman and Madonna families and the Congregation Beth David Jewish temple—will present a basic proposal and ask for annexation quickly. Their plan includes an undetermined amount of residential construction.
City staff, however, recommends that, because the annexation would be so large, it should be included in a much longer process of updating the city’s General Plan, the document that guides overall development.
Such an update will be discussed at the meeting Tuesday, with a timeline of 2009-11.
The property is rural and stretches from the corner of Foothill and Los Osos Valley Road east up the side of Cerro San Luis and southeast to the overflow wetlands from Laguna Lake. The mountain is sometimes called Madonna Mountain, and the side facing the city
sports a large “M,” which refers to Mission College Prep High School.
“This would be a huge, beautiful jewel of open space,” said Carol Florence, the private planner with Oasis Associates representing the property owners. “There would be potential housing—some workforce housing, some non-workforce housing, bike paths, both passive and active open space.”
Florence said there are no specific proposals for a number of residences or acreage that would be in open space. Instead, the property owners hope the council will disentangle the property from the longer process of updating the General Plan.
Owners of the land include Tim and Karen Twisselman and Rowly and Cathie Twisselman. Karen and Cathie Twisselman are both daughters of Alex and Phyllis Madonna.
De Vaul property
Dan De Vaul also owns part of the proposed annexation area, although Florence does not represent him. De Vaul is the owner of the controversial ranch just outside city limits that houses his Sunny Acres addiction recovery facility.
De Vaul has raised the ire of neighbors and county code officials for alleged code violations such as housing clients in buildings not built for human occupancy. He also faces misdemeanor criminal charges.
Asked about the possible uses of the land if annexation were to occur, De Vaul said it is too early to say with certainty.
“There’s going to be a lot of back and forth, up and down,” he said.
City staff believes the annexation discussion is better suited to the longer General Plan process.
“It is quite common that parties with development interests hope for forward movement sooner rather than later and fear getting caught up in longer processes,” said City Administrative Officer Ken Hampian.
But Hampian said the annexation proposal is large and staff believes it should be viewed in a citywide context.
Sphere of influence
Since 2006, the acreage at issue has been included in the city’s sphere of influence for possible future annexation.
What is called the Cerro San Luis annexation is bound to include plenty of open space, simply because of physical limitations. Hillsides up Cerro San Luis are steep and wetlands occupy territory on the north side of Laguna Lake.
Neil Havlik, natural resources manager for the city, said that if annexations aren’t identified in the current General Plan, there can be a requirement that 80 percent of the annexed land be dedicated for open space.
How much might be mandated for open space isn’t known in this case.
“The mountain, obviously. The flood area for Laguna Lake,” Havlik said. “Those are two areas that are obviously off-limits. I’m just not sure.”
The San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission must approve all annexations. The seven-member commission includes county supervisors, local City Council members, board members from local special districts and one member of the public.
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