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Archive for June, 2012
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Coastal Commission staff – “Your house is too big, looks all wrong, and sticks out too much”
June 8th, 2012
After waiting nearly a year, Daniel Robinson of the California Coastal Commission staff finally told my planner, Dave Watson, what he doesn’t like about the design of my house. Daniel said that my house design was too big, and that it should look more like a rural farm, and that from certain places in Pismo Beach you might be able to see it silhouetted against the sky.Of course Daniel didn’t say what house size he would approve – he just could tell that the existing design is too big. As far as the appearance of the house – since when does the LCP require new houses to look like farms?
On the silhouette issue we could actually prove something – Robert Malone (from RRM Design) and I went out and took pictures from different parts of Pismo Beach looking towards the Cave Landing site. Then Shawn Ridenhour (from RRM Design) took the picture files and created simulated pictures of what the house would look like from those Pismo Beach vantage points. Shawn’s simulations are here:
It is important to note that DANIEL ROBINSON HAS NEVER BEEN TO CAVE LANDING! He has no idea what the visual impacts are because he has never seen it in person.
Dave then emailed these pictures back to Daniel Robinson, along with this email that outlined exactly what the LCP says about visual impacts in the Cave Landing area.
Dave’s email back to Daniel Robinson
BTW – the LCP says very little about visual impacts – and most especially doesn’t say that new houses need to look like farms.
Daniel’s response to Dave’s email was that he would get back to Dave about the visual impacts within a week – but he didn’t. So while I waited for Daniel to decide what my house should look like I wrote this blog entry.
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California’s Proposed Tax Rates
June 19th, 2012
Governor Jerry Brown of California is proposing the highest taxes in the county …
California’s marginal income tax rates compared to other states
California’s sales tax rates compared to other states
Great.
And now Forbes magazine has rated California as the worst state to start a business:
America’s Best Places to Start a Company