HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-2021_Open Session_Item 6_Blanco, Debra and Art_links sanitizedFrom:Debra Blanco
To:Public Comments
Subject:05/5/21 – Open Session - Agenda Item No.6
Date:Monday, May 3, 2021 2:53:18 PM
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Honorable Mayor and City Council,
My name is Debra Blanco. My husband and I are long-time residents of San Bernardino and have
resided in the same home for over 31 years. We are appealing to you to reject or amend the
planning commission’s approval of the proposed retail development in Ward 7 located at 3191
North E Street. We are opposed to this project for many reasons including:
1) Because the property is located in a transit overlay, the design of the building requires
the main parking lot to be situated at the rear of the building where it is obstructed by the
building itself and abuts to the rear of historical homes.
2) Currently, on the southwest corner of West Marshall Boulevard and E Street (across the
street from the proposed retail space), sits a long-abandoned retail center where mostly
boarded up suites have been a magnet for drug trafficking, homeless individuals, trash, and
graffiti. The only current operating businesses in that center are a liquor store, laundromat,
and a donut shop. The city should be working hard to fill the existing vacant retail spaces of
that shopping center which has long been dragging down our neighborhood and is an
eyesore. The existing derelict conditions at that retail center will undoubtedly drift over to
the proposed site, causing disruption in the neighborhood east of E Street. The City of San
Bernardino does not have the resources necessary including police, fire and code
enforcement to maintain the security and stability of our neighborhood.
3) Of late, West Marshall Boulevard has become a thoroughfare for box trucks, tractor-
trailers, and speeding drivers who take this residential street as a short-cut to avoid the
traffic lights on 30th Street.
In the event the Mayor and City Council do not rescind the Dollar General project, it is respectfully
requested that the following security and safety conditions be imposed and agreed upon by the
applicant and the City of San Bernardino, with a guarantee of implementation to be made prior to
the Dollar General store project being approved:
1. That the Dollar General be required to have operational security cameras inside and
outside the Dollar General property and that any and all security footage be made available to local
law enforcement upon request.
2. That the Dollar General employ security personnel to reasonably patrol the property
during hours of darkness.
3. That the Dollar General be required to provide enhanced parking lot lighting during
business hours, commencing at nightfall until the close of business, and that the parking lot lighting
be equipped with ambient lighting for the remainder of the night hours until daylight, so as not to
disturb the residents adjacent to the property on North Stoddard Avenue and North E Street.
4. That landscaping at both sides of the business driveways entrances located on North E
Street and on West Marshall Boulevard, be planted and maintained so as to provide a clear and
unobstructed visual path of the parking lots from the respective streets.
5. That the proposed driveways be constructed wide enough so that commercial vehicles
off-loading store merchandise does not impede pedestrian sidewalk traffic on West Marshall
Boulevard or North E Street.
It is our opinion the proposed retail development will not benefit our community and will have long-
term economic consequences as the historical neighborhood loses its appeal. It will have ripple
effects far beyond the immediate intersection and will change our quality of life which has been a
beautiful, quiet neighborhood where we can safely walk and bike with our families and pets. This is
the wrong project in the wrong place, at the wrong time. On behalf of our neighborhood residents,
we encourage you to reject this retail proposal.
Debra Blanco
Art Blanco