News of the Arroyo
Title: | Pasadena City Council set to review master plan |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2003-04-13 |
Summary: | April 13, 2003 -- The long-awaited Arroyo Seco Master Plan will go before the Pasadena City Council Monday night, but not without concerns from citizen groups about the precipitous rush to approve the plan without a clear, edited version and without consensus about environmental aspects of the plan. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA -- On Monday, the City Council will review the more than 4,000 pages comprising the Arroyo Seco Master Plan and environmental impact report. It\'s a plan that has taken a long time getting here more than six years and could have a lot further to go. City staff say they have listened to community groups, park neighbors, activists and others when preparing the plan and believe it strikes a balance between environmental and recreational interests. But some groups, like the Arroyo Seco Foundation, complain that there is a last-minute rush to approve the plan, in part to capture a $1 million state grant for stream restoration in the Central Arroyo. They want the process slowed, the master plan and EIR rectified to include all changes made by staff in the last few months, and another chance to review the documents. They want it made clear exactly what will be done in the 1,000-acre park. \"We have written a letter to the City Council basically asking them not to consider the master plan or the EIR until they have a red-line version, a version that shows what changes have been made,\' said Peggy Stewart, president of the Arroyo Seco Foundation. Mayor Bill Bogaard and Councilman Sid Tyler agree, saying the plan\'s format leaves them confused about its contents. The changes were made earlier this year in response to public comments made about the EIR over the past year. The city proposed a series of alternatives in the master plan, removing or toning down several big projects a bike path in the Lower Arroyo was eliminated and a 1,200-space parking lot in the Hahamongna Watershed was nixed. On Tuesday, the Recreation and Parks Commission voted 3-2 to recommend the City Council approve the revised plan, but refused to recommend the portion of the plan that would increase the number of events at the Rose Bowl from 12 to 25 a year. For conservation groups, the most controversial aspect of the plan concerns the 300-acre Hahamongna Watershed Park. The northernmost portion of the arroyo in Pasadena, it remains the most wild. If the plan is passed, four sports fields and two man-made lakes would be constructed there. While city staff say the fields would be managed so that it would not pollute the groundwater or overly disturb native flora and fauna, conservationists remain wary. \"We\'d like to see it used as a wildlife corridor, a place for native plants, a realistic vision of what our water system is in in this area,\' said Stewart. There also remains the issue of perchlorate contamination from spent rocket fuel near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The city is negotiating with JPL on a cleanup plan. The most intensely used part of the park is the 550-acre Central Arroyo. Pelletons of bicyclists, gaggles of golfers and crowds of joggers regularly recreate here. It is also home to the Rose Bowl, which has attracted its own controversy with talk of professional football possibly making the stadium home. Among the planned projects are a 3-mile pedestrian loop around the stadium, restoration of the streambed and renovation of decaying pathways and facilities. In the 150-acre Lower Arroyo, the area generally south of the Colorado Street Bridge, the city wants to restore trails and native habitat. Several construction projects, like the bike trail, were removed by city staff, lowering the level of grumbling from environmentalists and nearby residents. Stewart said she would like to see more natural-looking trails and a greater emphasis on removing the concrete channel so the stream can flow naturally. \"If you are trying to give someone a natural experience in the outdoors, then you don\'t make it like a park,\' she said. Pasadena officials said the plan is still evolving. \"I have a feeling that this is going to be a work in progress for many years to come,\' said Ann Erdman, city spokeswoman. -- Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com. |
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