News of the Arroyo
Title: | Vote set on new tax Funds would help preservation effort |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2008-09-10 |
Summary: | September 10, 2008 - Residents of the far western part of Pasadena are now voting on assessing themselves a fee each year to pay for a portion of the purchase of Annandale Canyon as open space. |
Author: | Janette Williams, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | PASADENA - Neighbors surrounding Annandale Canyon will start voting this week on whether to tax themselves to raise $1.36 million toward the $7 million cost of preserving one of the city\'s last wilderness areas as public land. The City Council agreed Monday night to approve the Annandale Canyon Open Space Benefit Assessment District, which must pass by more than 50 percent. Mail ballots will go out Thursday to more than 600 households and will be counted on Oct. 27 at a public hearing in the council chambers. \"I assure you our oversight committee is committed to bringing this to fruition,\" Nina Chomsky, a member of Residents Working Group supporting the open-space plan, told the council. Two information mailers on the assessment district have been sent out, she said, a third is \"ready to go\" and door-to-door, phone and mail canvassing have been ongoing to gauge support. The area\'s four assessment zones would be based on proximity to the canyon, with votes weighted depending on the assessment, city officials said. For example, the nearest parcels with a proposed annual assessment of $1,000 would count as double the votes of those assessed at $500. \"We\'re very pleased the council approved\" the assessment district, Chomsky said Tuesday. \"Now we all have a lot of work to do to assure it passes ... But there are still pieces of the puzzle, mainly the `gap\' funding, that will take work,\" she added. That\'s the Advertisement roughly $1.5 million gap in the patchwork of funds put together to buy the 20.6 acres in the San Rafael Hills. In February, developer Jon Head agreed to sell after struggling for eight years to get permission to build 24 luxury houses there. The purchase plan includes a $2.5 million grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a possible $1.7 million from state and county sources, and $1.36 million from the assessment district - if it passes. Councilman Steve Haderlein said the funding gap - in addition to still unconfirmed state and county money as Sacramento\'s budget impasse continues - could pose problems. And if the assessment district fails, Councilman Victor Gordo said, the purchase plan \"could be back on the ropes,\" as Councilman Sid Tyler described its status of six to eight months ago. Since then, the plan has \"gelled\" and become viable, Tyler, chairman of the Finance Committee, said. Head said Tuesday that he was \"a little surprised by the comments from some council members\" at this stage of the purchase plan. \"I still think it\'s a positive thing,\" he said. \"I think this is the first time anything like this has been done in the city, all the community effort that\'s taken place ... I hope for everyone\'s sake this moves forward.\" Head and Chomsky both pointed out that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy grant expires early next year. \"It was very generous of them and a chance for the city to build a relationship\" with the conservancy, Head said. \"If they don\'t take this grant, there may not be another opportunity in the future.\" Mayor Bill Bogaard called approval of the assessment district \"the first step\" in possibly acquiring the property. But, he said, the action \"does not contemplate any contribution of city funds in excess of the amount in the report.\" The city, however, has a short list of five \"unfunded priorities,\" which includes acquiring or preserving open space and parkland. Still, open-space advocates are looking at more funding from private grant sources, including the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy or similar groups, Chomsky said. \"We have to have a broad creative effort to knit together what we need,\" she said. Bogaard said the goal of preserving Annandale Canyon as public land was \"to the benefit of the entire city of Pasadena.\" And in what Richard Bruckner, the city\'s director of planning and development called \"very good news for public access,\" developer Bill Foote has said he will donate an adjoining parcel where he planned to build 10 houses. \"He very recently decided to only build a couple of homes,\" Bruckner said, adding that the land was flat and could provide better parking. \"It\'s a very positive development.\" janette.williams@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482 |
Url: |