Lawsuit seeks to require San Luis Obispo to honor donor’s wishes

April 13, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Did the San Luis Obispo City Council fail to honor the wishes of a  woman who donated the Canet Adobe to the city to be used for park and recreational services? Or, did the city find an alleged loophole that allows the construction of low-cost housing on the property? It is now up to the court to decide.

More than 30 years after Mary Gail Black donated the Rosa Butron de Canet Adobe to the city for use as a park or recreational facility, the city struck a deal with a nonprofit seeking to create low-cost housing.

Smart Share Housing Solutions plans to place 20 tiny homes, ranging in size from 220 to 264 square feet, on the 466 Dana Street property to serve low and very low income people.

The history of the Canet Adobe

Located alongside Stenner Creek, the Canet Adobe was built circa 1845. It is one of the oldest structures in San Luis Obispo County.

In the 1850s and the early 1860s, in the absence of a local newspaper, community members would nail legal notices on a wall at the adobe.

In the 1920s, Black and Midred Waterman moved into the Canet Adobe. The couple lived together in the adobe until Waterman passed away in 1969.

In 1988, Black offered to bequeath the property to the City of San Luis Obispo with multiple strings attached. In addition to maintaining the property for parks and recreational services, Black required the city to fix the roof, perform biweekly gardening and tree trimming services, pay the taxes, pay the utilities, pay for insurance and allow her to live undisturbed at the property until her death.

She also required the park’s name to include Waterman in honor of her former partner.

In an attempt to comply with Black’s requirements, the city plans to provide public access hours in which community members can view the historic adobe. and to name the low-income housing project Waterman Village.

Even so, neighbors, property owners and descendants of both Black and Waterman argue Black donated the property to be used solely for park and recreation uses.

On Dec. 17, 2024, the San Luis Obispo Property and Business Owners Association, several neighboring property owners, a member of a local group, and a descendant of Waterman and a descendant of Black appealed the Waterman Village project.

During a March 4 SLO City Council hearing on the appeal, some speakers discussed the need for low-cost housing in support of the proposed project.

Others said the city needed to abide by the wishes of the donors, including Sally Waterman Aiken, a grand-niece of Waterman.

“My aunt would be turning over in her grave right now if she knew what you were contemplating,” Waterman Aiken said. “I am telling you, this is not what she wishes.”

City attorney Christine Dietrick said that while it was clear Black wanted to donate the property for recreational purposes, the request was not included in the seven legally binding conditions that the city agreed to abide by in the deed. The SLO City Council then voted unanimously to deny the appeal.

On April 3, attorney Saro Rizzo filed a suit against the city on behalf of the San Luis Obispo Property and Business Owners Association and Leslie Halls, the association’s president.

The lawsuit asks that the city’s approval of the project be set aside because the city lacked the authority to approve the low-cost housing project on the property, which was supposed to be “for the benefit of the general public for park or recreational purposes.”

On Oct. 4, 1988, the SLO City Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution that restricted use of the property for park or recreational purposes. Rizzo says the resolution serves as a contract.

“Whereas, the City of San Luis Obispo is desirous of accepting this grant of real property and premises for park or recreational purposes,” according to the 1988 resolution. “The city agrees to conditions of the grant deed.”

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the city from the improper expenditure of public funds, and from negotiating and entering into a long-term lease for housing on the property.

“In processing and approving the project, which violates the use restrictions on the property, the city was improperly expending public funds and similar improper expenditures are threatened in the future if the city enters into a long-term lease with Smart Share Housing Solutions,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit also seeks a judicial declaration that the proposed housing project is in violation of the restrictive conditions and or covenants requiring that the property be used for park or recreational purposes, along with an award of court costs and legal fees.

Who was Mary Gail Black?

At a time women were often subjugated to traditional roles, in the early 1920s Black began her career as a strong-minded journalist working for the San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram.

In 1988, she wrote a book – “Profile of the Daily Telegram” – that detailed stories of the characters, rascals and the dramas of San Luis Obispo County.

During an anti-nuclear protest over Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the then-73-year-old Black was one of 46 people arrested. She sat on many boards, including SLO County’s Committee for the Status of Woman and the Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council.

In the 1920’s, she moved into the adobe with Waterman, her longtime partner.

The couple lived together in the adobe until Waterman passed away in 1969. Black died on July 30, 1989 at 91 years old.

In Black’s obituary in the Telegram Tribune, reporter Jill Duman recounted Black’s many achievements and her generous gift of the adobe.

“A few years ago, Black willed her San Luis Obispo house – the historic Canet Adobe – to the city of San Luis Obispo for use as a historic home and park,” according to the Aug. 1, 1989 article. “The house, said Hall Patton, is ‘quite historically significant,’ and may turn out to be one of the county’s oldest adobes.”

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