Peggy Young Email, April 21, 2014

Date:     04-21-14

To:        San Luis Obispo City Council
             San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill
From:   Margaret Young

Re:        Sunny Acres Historical Building

The purpose of this letter is to register my concern regarding the proposed use of the Sunny Acres Historical Building and the property that immediately surrounds it.

The home my husband and I own is immediately adjacent to the larger piece of County property where the Sunny Acres building is.  The back of our home faces the field where people frequently walk with their dogs and children, and in the seven and one half years we have been here the building has been a source of questions and interest from those who visit.  Occasionally mischief makers have given us reason to call the police.

The proposal for using the building and an area near it for multiple buildings housing mentally ill people is disturbing, for all of the reasons raised by Shelly Boismenu.  I agree that it will be difficult keeping such a large facility filled (and therefore financially solvent).  I have watched similar situations occur where an institution which has vacant beds solicits patients (occupants) from adjacent (or faraway) places to keep revenue coming.  Given the type of residents these will be, it is hard to deny that we would not only be trying to care for our own indigent population, but bringing in more.

As I consider this proposal, I’m reminded of the history of the property as I’ve learned it:

• Built out of community concern to meet a recognized need to house orphans (a less-than-optimal solution to that problem)
• Subsequently transformed into a sort of juvenile hall for troublesome boys (still not the best answer to the issue)

The proposal seeks to make this property a place to house a large number of troubled people.  Many of them have both mental health and substance abuse issues, which are hard enough to treat separately but even more challenging in combination.  It appears that we would be repeating past mistakes.  I appreciated comments heard from a friend about a similar kind of home (family-sized) in a neighborhood in another state.  In that location with the smaller sized home, there were no problems noted.  However, concentrating many troubled people in a larger facility will quickly feel like and become like an “institution,” and no one wants to live in or near one of those.

Those of us whose windows look right at that building and observe the comings and goings will feel like we are living there.  Going through our back gates to walk and play with our kids in the freedom of the field will not be appealing at all, but will seem risky.

For these reasons, I urge you to disapprove the proposed usage of the Sunny Acres facility as a mental health facility.

Sincerely,

Margaret J. (Peggy) Young
2084 Skylark Lane
San Luis Obispo CA 93401