36 Residential Projects Pass Pasadena’s Test
Developers have obtained approval for 36 residential building projects after surviving a winnowing process mandated by the city’s slow-growth initiative.
The projects, which total 235 housing units, were selected Tuesday by the Pasadena Board of Directors from among 45 projects halted after voters passed the initiative in March.
The approved projects range from duplexes to an 18-unit apartment complex on Oneida Street. In granting approval, however, the board directed that 12 of the projects be reviewed by city staff members to ensure compliance with the city’s design standards.
Under the slow-growth initiative, construction in the city is limited annually to 250 housing units and 250,000 square feet of commercial development. The limit on commercial footage is applied only to individual projects larger than 25,000 square feet.
To comply with the initiative, which is being challenged in court, the board devised an elaborate evaluation process. The commercial projects were selected last week.
On Tuesday, the residential projects were evaluated using a system that awarded points for such things as retaining existing development and providing affordable housing.
Also taken into consideration was the impact the projects would have on surrounding neighborhoods. Eight projects totaling 102 units were turned down by the board, mainly because of such concerns.
Those eliminated included many of the larger proposals, such as 21 units on Catalina Avenue, 20 units on Lincoln Avenue, 15- and 10-unit projects on El Molino Avenue, and 10 units on Garfield Avenue. Those developers can return for a second presentation Dec. 5.
Also Tuesday, the city’s Endowment Advisory Commission pledged to begin giving the directors quarterly reports after concerns arose that the new $23.5-million police building had exceeded its original $17-million estimate without the board’s knowledge.
In 1986, voters approved a $17-million bond issue for the building, but commission members said the original estimate failed to take into account an increase in the building’s size from 78,000 square feet to 84,000 square feet, construction cost inflation of 20%, the $1.5-million renovation of a nearby county-owned garage, and $3.1 million needed for new furnishings, computers and communications equipment.
The increased costs will be paid for by the interest on the bonds and from the city’s general revenue bond money used for equipment purchases, commission members said. The building, now under construction at Garfield Avenue and Walnut Street, is expected be completed by next summer.
Also, Jacqueline Stiff, a city health officer, recommended that the health department join more than 40 agencies in an anti-AIDS program. As of mid-September, 119 AIDS cases have been reported in the city since the records on the disease began and 71 people have died, she said.
Compared to Los Angeles County, Pasadena has a higher percentage of AIDS cases among blacks (22%) and Latinos (20%). Drug users account for only 7% of Pasadena’s AIDS population, and no children have been diagnosed with the disease in Pasadena, Stiff said.
