News of the Arroyo
Title: | Council to weigh Arroyo projects |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2007-02-04 |
Summary: | February 4, 2007 - The Pasadena City Council will deliberate the fate of the Desiderio Army Reserve Center site on the banks of the Arroyo Seco on Monday Night. The outcome? Uncertain. |
Author: | Janette Williams, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | PASADENA - When the City Council announces its project of choice for the former Desiderio Army Reserve site Monday, predictions are it will be before a packed house and after a long night. With 5.1 federally owned acres in an upscale neighborhood on the edge of the Arroyo Seco up for grabs, the stakes are high. A foretaste came at the marathon Jan. 24 Planning Commission meeting. Four hours of presentations, debate and curtailed public comment ended with a recommendation for an affordable nine- unit bungalow court to be built by San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. The council, however, is not bound by the commission\'s first choice or by its selection of three other favorites from the original field of 11: The Arroyo Center for Art and the Environment from the Arroyo Seco Foundation and the California Art Club; a proposal by architects Moule & Polyzoides for a 20-home development and 1.75-acre park; and a City of Pasadena Green Space, Recreation and Safety Training Center for police and firefighters, with some public parkland included. There also will be lobbying from the floor by a newly formed group, Advocates for Desiderio Open Space, for a 12th alternative - demolishing the on-site buildings and restoring the land with native plants as a city park. \"A number of people have sent letters to the City Council advocating open space, and they\'re planning to show up and speak,\" said Ann Scheid, a former city planner who helped form the group. \"We\'re going to ask the City Council to ask staff to investigate it and bring it back to them.\" Although that option was never on the table, the council has the power to pick whatever it wants, Scheid said, \"if they feel there\'s enough interest and community support.\" That support, she said, will be \"a key thing\" in the ultimate decision by the Department of Defense, which can overrule any City Council recommendation. Fred Zepeda, president of the West Pasadena Residents Association, said \"unmonitored\" open parkland is not high on adjacent neighbors\' list, but that the area could live with any of the top four contenders. Councilman Steve Madison, whose district includes the Desiderio site, said he had heard the Department of Defense has been talking to developers \"to just develop it in a whole other direction, which obviously gives me some concern.\" There has been no publicly expressed support for the city or Moule & Polyzoides proposals, but the commissioners\' recommendation of Habitat shook proponents of the Arroyo Center for Art and the Environment. The partners seemed confident the level of support they had lined up - including from President Richard Koshalek of Art Center College of Design, Kidspace Museum and a 1,000-plus signature petition - would clinch the recommendation. Ideally, the commissioners suggested, the art/environment education center would team with Habitat for Humanity on a joint project. But Peter Adams of the California Art Club said the group is \"still very strong\" about the original proposal for a center dedicated to conservation and the history of plein air art in the arroyo, and hoped the council would see the public benefit. \"It seems to be the sentiment of the neighborhood and what everyone wants,\" Adams said. \"As far as working with Habitat, we\'re still trying to talk and work it out, but we\'re not fully decided.\" Adams said the art/environmental center would involve no city funding or upkeep and would recycle the buildings on the former Army Reserve training site. \"If we went in with Habitat, as I understand it, the city would have to become a major partner in the endeavor,\" he said. Habitat\'s Executive Director Sonja Yates said its project has had a \"tremendous response\" from the community. Although willing to talk about a partnership with the proposed center, she said, the buildings would have to come down. \"We feel the community and neighborhood would be much better served to demolish and build something truly beautiful,\" she said, citing \"unforeseen costs\" in restoring old buildings. Madison said the council should focus on the Planning Commission\'s recommendation and the three other finalists, despite those who may want to \"perform CPR\" on the other submissions. \"It will be interesting to know what my colleagues think about open space,\" Madison said, \"but we\'re talking a lot of city dollars, and politics is the art of the possible.\" janette.williams@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482 |
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