News of the Arroyo
Title: | Approval of estates further delayed |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-01-15 |
Summary: | January 15, 2005 - The proposed Annandale Canyon desecration has been delayed for a few more months by action of the developer who proposes to plop 24 homes in the sylvan canyon just above the Eagle Rock on the western edge of Pasadena. |
Author: | Gene Maddaus, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Friday, January 14, 2005 - PASADENA -- After suing the city to speed up approval of his Annandale Canyon Estates project, developer Jon Head has opted to pull back and wait a few months, fearing the project would be rejected if it came up now. The delay has only added to the developer\'s frustration, which was already at a boiling point over what he saw as the city\'s foot-dragging. The plan to build 24 homes in the undeveloped canyon on the western edge of the city has already taken four years. \"This has been extremely expensive and painful from our side,\' Head said. \"I\'m hoping we can rekindle a good relationship somehow with the various powers that be.\' Head and his partners have the legal right to develop the land, but first must get the city to approve an environmental review. In a lawsuit they filed in November, they accused the city of dragging out the approval process in an effort to thwart the project. The plan has generated significant opposition among neighbors and environmentalists. Residents have expressed concern about fire safety and truck traffic during construction, and environmentalists have described the tract as one of the last few undisturbed areas of wilderness in Pasadena. Environmental groups have tried to get state lawmakers to help buy the land so it can be transformed into a nature preserve. The funding has not materialized, and Head believes the short-term strategy is simply to delay or deny the project on technical grounds. After the lawsuit was filed, City Manager Cynthia Kurtz placed the project on the agendas of the Transportation Advisory Commission and the Planning Commission, with the goal of sending it to the City Council soon thereafter. But the meetings were canceled at the developer\'s request. \"I felt things weren\'t going favorably no matter what we did,\' Head said. \"The way they were planning on starting this month, there was no chance this project would have been approved.\' Planning Commissioner Richard McDonald said the project would have faced a tough fight before both the Planning Commission and the City Council. \"I think it would have been a pretty close call,\' McDonald said. \"There is a great deal of community opposition.\' The project has been scaled back from 29 homes to 24. The fire code requires two access routes for developments larger than 24 homes, and in this case there is only one. Head had planned to improve a second access route through the Scholl Canyon Landfill in Glendale. Although he initially received a favorable impression from Glendale city staff members, the Glendale City Council voted to reject the road improvement last summer. The decision left the project with a maximum of 24 homes, but the environmental review did not examine that option. Head has now asked the environmental consultant to examine the 24-home option, which accounts for the delay. \"I guess he saw it was in his best interest to do another analysis,\' said Planning Manager John Poindexter, who is named in the lawsuit. -- Gene Maddaus can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4444, or by e-mail at gene.maddaus@sgvn.com . |
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