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Thank you, thank you, Bill Morem for recognizing that Dan De Vaul actually contributes something vital to our community (“Sunny Acres could work if worked on,” July 31).
We’ve had it with bureaucrats who say, “Obey the rules or else.” Our willingness to impose the will of government at the expense of De Vaul’s clients plainly says we value regulations more than people.
What if a team of county employees took time to paint one of De Vaul’s walls? Would souls be lost if a half-dozen planning employees hammered up Sheetrock? Imagine code enforcers planting sod and live oaks. What if those assistant district attorneys helped walk him through the user-hostile construction permit process instead of busting him and evicting his clients?
And the fancy homes overlooking De Vaul’s “eyesore”: Would their owners tarnish themselves and San Luis Obispo somehow if each bought $200 of lumber and delivered it to De Vaul Ranch volunteer construction workers?
What would happen if we actually reached out to save the part of our safety net called Sunny Acres? When did we turn so self-absorbed, so heartless that we forgot we depend on each other, forgot that our interdependence connects through people like Dan De Vaul?
Who’ll nail up that first two-by-four?
Bruce Curtis
Los Osos
Environmental woes?
The excellent letter from Virginia Bass (July 22) summarized the history of poor citizenship by Mr. De Vaul and his misuse of his agricultural-zoned property. In addition, my concern is for potential long-term environmental damage from these abuses. My concern is unrelated to the issues surrounding the Sunny Acres facility.
Storage of old, inoperable vehicles inevitably leads to leaks and spills of gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oil, radiator fluid, transmission fluid and more, all of which are toxic to plants and wildlife.
Moreover, the dumping of truckload after truckload of waste dirt and its distribution over acres of land adjacent to creeks and Laguna Lake raises serious questions: What was in that dirt? Lead? Mercury? Waste oil? Why was it dumped on this property and not in a landfill or some other facility legally permitted to accept such material?
What happens 10 or 20 years from now when the rains have carried the plume of chemicals from the De Vaul property into Laguna Lake? Who will bear the cleanup costs? Will Laguna Lake Park have to be closed because of toxic contamination?
Every person who is concerned about the environment and every taxpayer in San Luis Obispo has a stake in what happens at the De Vaul property.
Jan William Simek
San Luis Obispo
A matter of location
I have to wonder if Mr. De Vaul’s ranch were located several miles east of its current location, perhaps surrounded by grazing land and thus not impeding the views of the upright, upstanding and well-to-do citizens of our community, if his property would be under such intense scrutiny by the county Board of Supervisors and code enforcement.
I have to wonder if his ranch—which houses the indigent, the offenders, the unwanted— were located out of sight and thus out of mind, if there would be any nuisance abatement hearings at all.
And lastly, I really have to wonder at what future date and time “difficult issues of the homeless and addicted” in our community will appear on the meeting agenda of our esteemed San Luis Obispo City Council.
Jody Harmon
Cambria
Kudos to Dan De Vaul
Thank you, Bill Morem (“Sunny Acres could work if worked on,” July 31). I was wondering if anyone besides me took issue with the strange notion that this would not be a good time to discuss the lack of rehabilitation options for addicted and quasi-homeless folks here in SLO. Our shelter is simply not equipped to manage this need on its own. Vastly more beds and services are needed. For all his faults, Dan De Vaul has been creatively meeting this need. I say kudos are due.
While I do not live up-view from the De Vaul compound, I heartily agree that a compromise can be found if we all (starting with De Vaul and city/county officials) earnestly make a good-faith effort. The alternative is to lose a valuable resource that would take years and many millions to replicate. And, lets face it, substandard housing by some measure looks pretty good compared to a field or a creek bed.
Perhaps you, Mr. Morem, might want to chair a task force devoted to crafting a win-win solution here?
Susan Pyburn
San Luis Obispo
Seeking compassion
I read on the front page of The Tribune (July 24) that Sunset magazine named San Luis Obispo a top-10 dream town. That is true if you are one of the affluent, but if you are on a set income or homeless, SLO is not a dream town.
Sunny Acres, a nonprofit, clean-living program, has been ordered to cease human habitation except in the existing home. The mobile homes that have been sheltering the homeless from the weather and giving them a place to sleep must be moved by Sept. 30. It seems our Board of Supervisors feels these people are better off in creek beds or under bridges than in what they consider unsafe housing.
Many volunteers are helping to clean up Sunny Acres. But it seems we are not doing it fast enough for code enforcement.
The message was loud and clear: It is more important to have the ranch cleaned up to code than what happens to the residents who are being forced to move and have no place to go. They even want to close down the roadside stand that is helping support these people.
SLO, where is your compassion?
Betty Woody
Avila Beach
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