July 14, 2012 Meeting Summary

Agenda Items:
Preparation
Attendees
Acknowledgments
Meeting

Preparation

E-mail reminder

Attendees

5 members

Acknowledgments

Susan brought yummy cookies

Meeting

Agenda Items:

The meeting began about 11:23 am

  • General Plan Update Community Meeting Summary
    • Attended community meeting held at PCC on Saturday June 23 at 11 am.
    • There was a more detailed map of proposed development zones then what was shown to the City Council in May.
    • The general presentation was much the same.  After the general presentation, attendees were encouraged to visit tables set up with maps and information for specific areas.  The staff at the tables wrote down comments and concerns and answered questions.
    • Planners at the East Pasadena table described a concept of breaking up the long blocks along Foothill to be more pedestrian friendly.  For example, having developers make publicly accessible streets and/or landscape corridors in their projects that would extend south from Foothill toward the freeway.  And adding more signals on Foothill to allow pedestrians to cross, for example between Halstead and Rosemead.
    • Also noted a desire to push allowed building height north of the freeway up immediately adjacent to the freeway and then lowered as get further from freeway.  Because the land is sloping down as approach the freeway, and the freeway is nothing special to look at, taller buildings adjacent to it won’t look as tall as seen from some distance.
    • Commenters at the table noted that it might not be so desirable to add lots of residences immediately adjacent to the freeway due to bad noise and bad air.  Somebody then said, oh just put in good noise insulation and air handling systems.  Somebody else replied that’s just expecting them to be prisoners inside.
    • Here is a summary of what the map showed for the areas near us:
      • (Note:  FAR stands for Floor Area Ratio, a measure of how dense the development is)
      • “The Triangle” – between Sierra Madre Villa, Rosemead, Halstead, and Electronic Drive
        • Current:  Map showed Low Office, which matches what is currently there but is much less then what the current specific plan would allow.
        • Proposed:  Medium Office – 2 – 3 stories, 1.8 – 2.0 FAR
        • Result:  Little change from current plan, maybe slightly less development allowed
      • Hastings Village shopping center – block including Best Buy, etc., between Sierra Madre Villa, Halstead, Foothill, Electronic
        • Current: Low Retail – 1 – 2 (really tall) stories, 0.4 FAR
        • Proposed:  Medium High Mixed Use Retail – 3 – 4 stories, 2 – 2.25 FAR
        • Result: The retail could become much more dense.  Multi-family residential could be added, typically above a floor of retail.
      • North side of Foothill, between Sierra Madre Villa, Foothill, Santa Paula, Mataro
        • Current: Medium Retail
        • Proposed:  Low Retail – 1 – 2 stories, 0.4 FAR
        • Result:  This appears to be essentially what is already there and a slight downsizing from what is currently allowed; good from the perspective of protecting our neighborhood.
      • Southwest corner of Foothill and Sierra Madre Villa, currently Kaiser medical offices
        • Current: High Office – 5 – 6 stories, 3.0 FAR
        • Proposed: High Mixed Use Office – 5 – 6 stores, 3.0 FAR
        • Result:  Would allow adding multi-family residential.  (Not likely to happen given current usage, but this plan projects 30+ years into the future, so anything is possible.)
      • South side of Foothill, between Kaiser and the freeway, currently self-storage, low office, light industrial uses
        • Current:  Low Office
        • Proposed: Medium Mixed Use Office – 3 – 5 stories, 2-2.25 FAR
        • Result:  Could put in multiple 5 story buildings, each a combination of office and residential or maybe some of each.
      • South east corner of Foothill and Sierra Madre Villa east on Foothill to Halstead
        • Current: Medium Mixed Use Office
        • Proposed: High Mixed Use Office – 5 -6  stores, 3.0 FAR
        • Result: Could  build higher and denser then currently allowed
      • Halstead east side
        • Current: Low Office
        • Proposed: Medium Mixed Use Office – 3-5 stories, 2 – 2.25 FAR
        • Result:  Much denser and higher development allowed mid-block, and addition of residential housing
      • Rosemead retail strip – Robin’s, Theater, etc
        • Current: Low Retail
        • Proposed: Medium Mixed Use Retail – 2 – 3 stories, 1.5 FAR
        • Result:  Much denser use and possible addition of residential
      • Ralphs and surrounding stores
        • Current: Low Retail
        • Proposed: Medium-High Mixed Use Retail – 3 – 4 stories, 2.0 – 2.25 FAR
        • Result:  Much denser use and potential for addition of residential
      • South side of Foothill east of Halstead
        • Current: Low Office
        • Proposed: Between Halstead and Panda Inn, High Mixed Use Office, further east Medium Mixed Use Office
        • Result:  Residential could be added anywhere along here.  (Specification of office seems strange since there is quite a bit of retail there now.)
      • Lower Hastings Shopping Center, north side of Foothill between Rosemead and Michillinda
        • Current: Low Retail
        • Proposed: Low-Medium Mixed Use Retail – 1 – 2 stories, 0.8 – 1.0 FAR
        • Result: Could add residential without going much higher then currently
      • South of Freeway, north of Colorado, Kinneloa (Target) east to City Limit
        • Current: Medium Mixed Use Retail
        • Proposed: Medium-High Mixed Use Retail – 3 – 4 stories, 2.0 – 2.25 FAR
        • Result: Would allow building a little higher and denser then currently allowed.  Multi-family residential already allowed, but hasn’t been taken advantage of.
      • South side of Colorado Blvd. east of Kinneloa
        • Current: Medium Mixed Use Retail
        • Proposed:  Medium Mixed Use Retail – 2- 3 stories, 1.5 FAR
        • Result:  No change in what’s allowed.  Potential for residential and increased height not taken advantage of yet.
      • North side of Foothill, west of Freeway, adjacent to Daisy Villa neighborhood
        • Current: Low-Medium Mixed Use Retail
        • Proposed: Low Retail
        • Result:  This essentially lowers what is allowed to be built to what is already there.  Eliminates the possibility of multi-family housing development there.
      • South side of Foothill, west of Freeway to Sierra Madre Blvd  and south to just north of Colorado retail strip (Lamanda Park)
        • Proposed: R&D Flex Space – 1 – 2 stories, 0.9 FAR
  • Southern access to Gold Line station improvements
    • The City Council previously approved a plan to improve access to the Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line Station for pedestrians coming from the south by doing such things as widening the sidewalk and adding lighting and landscaping between the Gold Line Station and Colorado Blvd., including under the bridge.
    • This plan replaces the previous plan to put a bridge from the train platform to the south over the freeway.
    • Here is a link to the previous discussion of this plan: January 2010 meeting
    • The agenda for the City Council meeting of July 16 includes an item for the Council to approve the low bidder on a construction contract for up to $550,000 to carry out the plan.
    • It says construction is expected to begin in August and be completed in October.
  • Local crime summary
    • From crimemapping.com:
      • Saturday June 9, 11:52 am, Assault/Battery, 300 block Santa Paula Ave
      • Tuesday July 10, 5:31 am, Drugs/Alcohol Violations, Avocado / La Tierra Street
      • Several residential burglaries in Lower Hastings, one in Daisy Villa
      • Incidents in commercial areas along Foothill  and Gold Line station seem to have dropped back to more normal levels.
  • Edison hi-tension wires work this calendar quarter
    • The quarterly Tehachapi project newsletter from Edison indicates that the circuit is to be added to the high tension towers to our east between the Goodrich substation on Foothill and one in La Canada this calendar quarter.
    • There will be preliminary tower work.  Then when the line is actually strung, the park will be shut down and streets closed while the line is strung through / over them.
    • Adjacent homeowners and park users should get more specific notice closer to when it will happen.
  • Windstorm tree failure report
    • A report which analyzed the causes of public tree failures in the windstorm last fall has been released and is to be discussed by the Urban Forestry Advisory Commission (UFAC) next week.
    • Nothing particularly surprising in it.  It does confirm that the largest concentration of damage was here in East Pasadena, along the Eaton Wash corridor.
    • It includes some maps that show dots for every place a tree was damaged/destroyed, different colors for different types of damage. There are charts detailing the numbers and percentages of each type of tree and the type of damage.
    • The report can be accessed here:  http://www.cityofpasadena.net/TreeFailureAnalysis
  • Next meeting location
    • Hastings Branch Library will be closed from August 6 to October 1.
    • This means we have to meet elsewhere in August and September.
    • Kathy will host our meeting on August 11 at 463 Vineyard Place.
  • anything else attendees wish to discuss
    • 3175 Alameda Update
      • In the first part of June, a crew finally cleaned up the tree debris that had come down in the fall windstorm.  The property was also weed whacked.
      • About June 10, someone had posted a sign in front of the brick pillar offering to sell property.  Seems to have just been an opportunistic sign placement; maybe someone figuring their sign could stay there for awhile since the property is not maintained.
      • No word on anything happening to resolve this ongoing eyesore and public nuisance.  The city seems to just be hoping the owner will surface and sell it.
      • Meanwhile there are some other properties in the neighborhood that are becoming derelict and the city’s code enforcement is hamstrung by ownership issues related to foreclosure.
    • Street signs replacement
      • Council member Masuda’s field representative Noreen Sullivan says there is a plan in progress to replace the street signs destroyed,damaged, or blown away by the wind storm.
      • She said to e-mail her the names of the signs that need replacement and she’ll make sure they are on the list (just in case the city missed them).  [email protected]
    • Fire Station 32 meeting
      • Did anyone go to the meeting at and about Fire Station 32 that was held this past Wednesday? (No one at our meeting did.)
      • A postcard mailer was sent by the Council Member’s office.
      • Fire Station 32 is on Villa Street at Altadena Drive.
      • The postcard gave a web address for more information, but there is no current information there specific to Fire Station 32.
      • A long report about the state and needs of all the fire stations, which was done last year and resulted in the closure of one station, is posted at http://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/fire
      • Fire Station 32 is considered structurally unsound and in need of replacement.   There was a plan being worked on to temporarily relocate and/or use the former Shakey’s Pizza site.  Presumably this meeting provided details of the current state of the plan.
      • Almost all the fire stations are considered to be in need of major renovation and or replacement.  On Monday July 16 the City Council will discuss whether to place a bond measure or 1/4 percent sales tax to pay for that (and potentially a lot more) on the November general election or March municipal election ballot.
    • Recycle bin content thieves
      • Sunday night and Monday morning July 8-9, there was a new, very noisy, thief raiding the recycle bins of our neighborhood.  From the racket made, he seemed to be especially after glass bottles.
      • One resident who was awakened early Monday morning did call the police.
      • Although some may feel that at least these guys are working hard and not really harming anyone, it is against the law for a reason.  Once the bins are put out at the curb, the content belongs to the city.  The value of the recycle bin contents offsets some of the cost of the disposal service, reducing the bills we pay.
      • Additionally, sometimes these recycle thieves are thieves in a more traditional sense, also checking out cars, yards, and houses for potential burglary.
      • Residents are encouraged to do their own recycling of their CRV cans and bottles instead of throwing their money away.
      • If that is really too much bother, consider donating directly to a neighbor you know does redeem recycling.
      • Waiting until Monday morning to put cans out will dramatically reduce the recycle bin raiding activity.
      • The city encourages calling their non-emergency police number 626 744-4241 when recycle bin raiders are working the street.   It is low priority, but if an officer is available they will be sent to check things out.

Next meeting is August 11, 2012, 11:15 am, at 463 Vineyard Place.

Adjourned about 12:30 pm?