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Neighborhood Update

SPECIAL

UPDATE
WPRA urges City Council to support reasonable General Plan density objectives
  
Neighbors:

Pasadena City Council is tentatively scheduled to discuss and, possibly, certify the Final General Plan Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) during its next regular meeting:
  • Monday, August 17
  • 6:30 p.m.
  • City Hall, Council Chambers
  • 100 N. Garfield Ave.
If you are concerned about the pace and level of development in our city, the West Pasadena Residents' Association Board encourages you to express your views during this important City Council meeting.

WPRA's position. While generally supporting the FEIR, the WPRA in an August 12 letter urged City Council to reject the development density limits as currently proposed in the Land Use Element. Rather, the WPRA urged Council to adopt the City Planning staff's and the City Planning Commission's density cap recommendations, which the WPRA believes are more reasonable.
 
The numbers. Both the City Planning staff and Planning Commission recommended development be capped at 6,365 residential units and 5,825,000 nonresidential square feet of development allocated across the seven Specific Plan areas. The Final EIR currently calls for caps of 7,905 residential units and 7,675,000 square feet of development, and with 62% of the residential units and 44% of the development concentrated in the Central District.
 
Considerations. The WPRA also urged City Council to consider the following as deliberates future city growth and its possible outcomes: 
  1. Permit a reasonable supply of diverse housing opportunities. The City is currently experiencing a boom in residential and non-residential development, the impact of which is not yet clear since much of the new construction is still unoccupied and many approved projects have not yet broken ground. In developing its original density recommendations, City planners thoroughly analyzed the city's potential to absorb new development without sacrificing clean air, open space, mobility, city vistas and our architectural history. Planners concluded that more reasonable growth caps were appropriate.
  2. Recognize that excessive density will produce excessive traffic. Pasadena may plan for higher density in neighborhoods and around transit hubs, but until public transit expands so that those who live in Pasadena or work in Pasadena can efficiently move into, around or through the city, the idea of reducing car trips any time soon is an illusion. An outsized development cap - which will result in more cars and car trips - will not lead to a higher quality of life.
  3. Continue striving to become a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable community. The General Plan's Land Use Element should align with Pasadena's commitment to environmental sustainability. A reasonable growth cap is more consistent with our core environmental values, as opposed to higher density, which would surely result in adverse environmental impacts.
Trust your commissioners, staff; adopt lower development caps. The WPRA believes City Planning commissioners, with guidance from the City Planning staff, have devised the best benefit-for-all vision for growth. For this reason, the WPRA urged City Council to adopt these more reasonable development caps.