Monterey Park

The Monterey Park City Council has voted to increase the size of the city’s architectural review board from seven members to nine, hire a staff for the board and extend its authority to all commercial buildings, effective July 1.

The board, created last year, had been limited to reviewing commercial projects in the Garvey-Garfield area. City Manager Lloyd de Llamas said that beginning July 1, all new or remodeled commercial buildings will be required to conform to architectural standards that formerly applied only to the Garvey-Garfield area. The purpose of the board and the standards, De Llamas said, is to increase the attractiveness of buildings by controlling roof design, colors, signs, landscaping and other features. The enlarged review board will include five people with backgrounds in planning and architecture and four laymen.