Directors Set Hearing Date for Old Town Project

Fearful that delays might kill the One Colorado project, the Pasadena Board of Directors Tuesday instructed its Design Commission to reconsider the project immediately and scheduled its own hearing for 7 p.m. May 30.

The Design Commission last week refused to approve a revised concept for the project, delaying action until June 26 to allow time for preparation of additional documents on the project’s environmental impact.

Developer Douglas L. Stitzel has revamped the Marketplace project, renaming it One Colorado, but has been unable to overcome objections posed by a preservation group, Pasadena Heritage. The project, considered a key to the rejuvenation of Old Pasadena, would create a specialty retail and entertainment center in a block of historic buildings.

The developer asked the city board to overrule the Design Commission and allow the project to go forward. After City Atty. Victor J. Kaleta reported that there was no need for the commission to delay the project for further environmental reports at this stage, the board agreed to hear the appeal. At the same time, the board instructed City Manager Donald F. McIntyre to bring the developer and the project’s critics together to try to work out an agreement.

City Director Rick Cole said One Colorado “is a viable project and will be approved by the city.” But, he said, for the city board to step in now, “sends the wrong signal to the developer,” discouraging compromise.

And unless objections to the project can be overcome, he said, even if the city ultimately gives its approval, opponents could tie up the project for years with a legal challenge.

Mayor William E. Thomson Jr. said critics of the project “must say what it is they are prepared to accept” in order to work toward a compromise with the developer.

The city board asked McIntyre to try to reach an agreement on the design and asked the Design Commission to reconsider the project before the city board takes up the appeal on May 30.