SEPTEMBER 2008

Preserving Wide Open Spaces

Draft Housing Element to be Reviewed

Design Guidelines Improve Architectural Quality

Keep Your Kids Safe on Campus

Free to Roam at ArtNight

Keep Your Address Visible

Ready for Your Closeup?

Preserving Wide Open Spaces

asadena residents and visitors have enjoyed the great outdoors for more than a century.

Join the effort beginning this fall to make sure future generations enjoy all the nature Pasadena has to offer. The Planning and Development Department is updating the Open Space and Conservation Element of the General Plan, a document that sets goals and priorities for preserving and enhancing Pasadena’s open space and for conserving energy, water, our urban forest and other natural resources.

To guide the effort, the city council has created a nine-member committee with representatives from the community, city commissions, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. The group, which meets the second Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at Pasadena City Hall, is drawing up a participation plan to make sure our community’s voices are heard. A workshop is being planned for this fall; watch for details soon.

In the meantime, you can visit www.cityofpasadena.net/generalplan and click on Open Space and Conservation to find the committee’s agendas, minutes and backup materials as well as draft maps, work plan and other important documents. You’ll also find links to other cities and organizations that are doing inspiring work in this field.

The new element will complement the Green Space, Recreation and Parks Element, which sets goals for the city’s park and recreation facilities and programs.

For more information or to be added to the mailing list, email ldahl@cityofpasadena.net or call 744-6767.
 

Draft Housing Element to be Reviewed

Accommodating growth in a responsible manner, maintaining social and economic diversity, supplying a broad range of housing types and prices, providing quality housing and neighborhoods, assisting residents with special housing needs: These are among the challenges facing Pasadena as we work on achieving a long-term vision for housing and the community for the next six years.

These and other issues are addressed in the Draft Housing Element, a state-mandated chapter of Pasadena’s General Plan. It describes our community’s housing needs, analyzes the resources for providing it, recommends policies and programs for making the best use of these resources, and provides direction for addressing the needs of homeless families.

It is the culmination of nearly five years of ongoing community discussions about housing initiatives, including several public workshops.

Learn more when the Pasadena Planning Commission continues its review of the Draft Housing Element on Wednesday;, Sept. 10, at 6:15 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Room S249 at Pasadena City Hall. It will go to the city council later this fall for review, followed by legal review and comments by state officials in Sacramento.

Join the conversation! For more information all 744-6774 or visit www.cityofpasadena.net/generalplan and click on Housing.

Design Guidelines Improve Architectural Quality

There’s no doubt about it: Pasadena’s tree-lined neighborhoods, fine architecture, lush gardens and mountain vistas are beyond compare. With help from the community, the city is working to ensure Pasadena enhances its distinctive character.

Detailed design guidelines are being created for commercial areas, not including downtown, plus multifamily residential projects with three or more units.

You can get involved during Design Commission meetings Monday, Sept. 8 (neighborhood commercial), and Monday, Sept. 22 (multifamily residential), at 6 p.m. at Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St.

The commission will hear public comments; and city staff and consultants will report on their review of existing guidelines and recently built projects, and the results of interviews with neighborhood representatives, architects and developers.

You can also leave comments at www.cityofpasadena.net/guidelines, where you’ll also find detailed project information including a map of affected areas and documents for review.

For more information email kevinjohnson@cityofpasadena.net or call 744-7806. Watch for announcements about additional public workshops in October and November that will focus on drafts of the new guidelines. Final drafts are expected to be presented to the city council in December.

Keep Your Kids Safe on Campus

School bells are ringing this month, welcoming students back to school. But don’t forget you could also hear sirens.

A major earthquake could leave your children stranded at school for hours until you can reach them. Follow your school’s advice and send a personal “comfort kit” to keep your kids safe and occupied during an emergency situation.

Pasadena Fire Department recommends that you stock the kit with extra clothes, a space blanket from a sporting goods store and a small flashlight with batteries. Send a few non-perishable snacks, bottled water, travel toothbrush and toothpaste, and comfort items such as a loving note, favorite family photo or activity books. Also include a list of medications your child may need plus an index card with emergency information and an out-of-state contact in case local phone lines are jammed.

Talk to your children about your family’s emergency plan, and explain how and where you’ll reunite after a disaster. Call your child’s school office to ask about the school’s disaster plan and how often it is updated.

For more tips visit www.cityofpasadena.net/disaster or call 744-7276.

Free to Roam at ArtNight

Calling all art enthusiasts, night owls and those looking for something to jazz up their Friday night-- don’t miss fall’s ArtNight Pasadena!

Bring your family and friends and join us Friday, Oct. 10, from 6 to 10 p.m.

An extremely popular biannual event, ArtNight is an ongoing partnership among numerous cultural institutions and the Cultural Affairs Division of the City Manager’s Office. Twice a year Pasadena’s museums and cultural institutions open their doors for free so the public can discover and enjoy the variety of art, cultural artifacts and music offered in our artistically rich city.

Audiences have come to expect quality and originality, and this ArtNight promises both. For example, Pasadena Museum of History will have landmark exhibits celebrating Pasadena’s Arts and Crafts legacy, and Pasadena City College’s Art Gallery will present idiosyncratic Texas-based artists performing live music.

City-sponsored shuttles will provide free transportation between all venues to ensure easy accessibility, as outlined in the city’s Cultural Nexus goals. Also available will be newly redesigned brochures showing bus routes to make it easier to explore all that ArtNight has to offer.

ArtNight kicks off three days of cultural events. For more information on Pasadena ArtWeekend go to www.pasadenaartweekend.com. For more information on ArtNight call 744-7062.