Don’t Believe Dalidio’s Deceptions

October 5th, 2006 – Letters to the Editor – The New Times

I was shocked at the “pro Dalidio” bias exhibited in the Sept. 20 Measure J article (”How does Measure J measure up?”) from the many photos of smiling “environmental” developers, to the drawing, which never showed even one store, even though there will be at least 10 big-box stores! Parking lots were also not labeled, but instead drawn to look like vineyards or large, tree-dotted fields! The reader was misled into thinking that the entire mall will be just a butterfly field and open green space!

Where are all the stores and parking? Only one small “dot” is labeled “restaurant and retail area,” when, in fact, the majority of the mall is retail and commercial! The “residential” area shows no condos, and even the sewage-treatment area is labeled “retention ponds.”

We have become used to deception from developers who stand to make millions of dollars from these projects. In all fairness to your readers, you should print an article to show the “other side” and the reality of this project. Inform your readers how the developers aren’t paying their fair share of the project only $8 million of the projected $49 million, forcing us county taxpayers to pay the rest and to deal with the traffic and headaches created by this monstrous development (sounds like Willow Creek in Nipomo).

Citizens of SLO have already voted this Dalidio project down in the last election. Please, citizens of SLO County, don’t believe these deceptive tactics. Vote no on Measure J!

Margaret Savoldi, San Luis Obispo

 

Dalidio’s share doesn’t seem fair to me

October 5th, 2006 – Letters to the Editor – The New Times 

Signs around town on most of the vacant lots say that Measure J is the “fair choice.” Fair? I don’t think so. Please. Fair? The 51-page Dalidio Ranch initiative states on page 31 that “$4 million is the fair share of the Dalidio Ranch Project for the Prado Road overpass of Highway 101 and associated on and off ramps to 101,” together with the land for the road.

Read this (and the whole 51-page measure) yourself. Just go to www.slocounty.ca.gov and do a search for “Measure J” and click “full text of Measure J,” and then, in the PDF document, do a search for “overpass.” You will see the statement that the $4 million is the fair Dalidio payment (in money) for the Prado overpass.

The current best estimate is $50 million to $55 million for the overpass. It is not expected to be built for at least five years. In just five years, the cost will most likely be around $65 million to $75 million.

Using the average estimate of $70 million, the Dalidio $4 million “fair deal” is 5.7 percent of the cost of constructing the Prado overpass.

Don’t you think that the Dalidio Ranch Project should pay at least half, or $35 million? You decide in November what is “fair.”

W. David Lees, San Luis Obispo

 

Dalidio Won’t Play by the Rules

October 5th, 2006 – Letters to the Editor – The New Times 

I saw old Ernie Dalidio on TV last night touting the Texas and L.A. developers’ megamall (bigger than all of downtown SLO!) as if it’s nothing more than an organic farm.

What’s most striking about old Ernie is his assertion of righteous entitlement to sell out to the developers. That’s right: Entitlement. “It’s my land, I should be allowed to do what I want with it!”

No matter that the land’s zoned and shown in the general plan for agriculture, that the good people of SLO voted down a smaller project there, that Ernie never even tried to get a project approved by the county.

Ernie asserts that he should be allowed to bypass all development review (no public hearings, ever), be exempt from state environmental law (unlike any other developer), not have to pay to fix the problems he causes (like traffic gridlock on the 101), and build a crowded mall in a dangerous airplane flight zone (where one jet has already crashed!). The public should just give him all of this. Plus, the increase in value of his land from ag to commercial. Because he’s ENTITLED to it!

Bah! Humbug! As members of society, we all agree to play by the rules. Ernie won’t play by the rules. He’s just a big crybaby who wants to write his own game a game that only he can win.

This is no way to do public planning. Vote no on Measure J.

Robert Taylor, Atascadero