More scrutiny coming for Dalidio Initiative 

Traffic impacts from the proposed Dalidio shopping center development will be the main topic for discussion at a public meeting at the SLO County Courthouse on August 16.

Local officials from throughout the county have been invited to the Dalidio Ranch Initiative Committee to study a variety of impacts that may result if county voters approve the shopping center project proposed for farmland between Hwy. 101 and Madonna Road in San Luis Obispo.

If county voters pass Measure J the Dalidio Ranch Initiative in November, the project would bypass normal regulatory procedures. The initiative calls for a large shopping center, as well as 60 residences, sports fields, and a bike trail.

At an August 2 initiative committee meeting, staff from five county departments planning, parks, environmental health, public works, and fire expressed their concerns about the initiative.

"We don't see any mechanism in the initiative to include specific standards or county involvement in inspections," said County Parks Manager Pete Jenny.

Dalidio project representative Vic Montgomery told the meeting, "I've worked in the county for 30 years. I think I have a good enough understanding of the process."

Other issues raised at the meeting included fire and medical response time, flooding, water supply, sewage sludge, park maintenance, and architectural review.

"There's no mechanism for including solutions [to these problems] in the initiative. Voters have no way to know if the problems will be solved," Eric Greening said during public testimony at the meeting.

The next meeting will focus on transportation issues, after the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) identified "very significant unmitigated traffic impacts" from the proposal. Madonna Road, Los Osos Valley Road, and Hwy. 101 would all become heavily congested if Measure J is passed, the report says.

"The initiative is written to free the developer of the responsibility to mitigate its traffic impacts ... . These impacts constitute a breakdown in the transportation system in the southern San Luis Obispo urban area," according to the report.

Wednesday's meeting is set for 3 p.m. in Room 161 of the county courthouse.