East Pasadena Specific Plan
East Pasadena is a major regional retail area and provides jobs, goods, and services to the City. The current East Pasadena Specific Plan, which was adopted on October 23, 2000, focuses on facilitating the expansion of existing businesses and development of new businesses to provide additional employment opportunities for Pasadena residents, as well as the addition of new housing opportunities to enable residents to live close to jobs and transit. An update to the East Pasadena Specific Plan is underway – information regarding the draft plan that was presented to the community in 2020 and ways to participate can be found at https://www.ourpasadena.org/east-pasadena. The draft specific plan for East Pasadena focuses on implementing the General Plan goal for East Pasadena as a semi-urban environment with higher-density mixed-use developments incorporating retail, office, and housing uses to provide more opportunities to walk and use transit.
To review the currently adopted 2000 East Pasadena Specific Plan, please see the information below.
d1. East Foothill Industrial District
In this area, the Specific Plan will encourage this area’s continued use as an industrial district with moderate amounts of additional office and commercial development. The Specific Plan will facilitate transit oriented development near the proposed light rail station at Sierra Madre Villa and the 210 freeway.
d2. Foothill, Rosemead- Sierra Madre Villa
In this area, the Specific Plan will encourage additional industrial and office development with a limited amount of supporting retail/commercial development. Child care to support employees should be encouraged. The use of the Pasadena Unified School District’s property on Foothill Boulevard (formerly the Continuation School) for either institutional/educational or commercial/industrial use will be encouraged. The adjacent city-owned property to the east, which is not deed-restricted for open space and the Edison right-of-way. could be used as parking to support the development of the PLFSD property.
During the Specific Plan process this area may be considered for retail development such as discount stores with a conditional use permit. Traffic impact on the surrounding neighborhood and the feasibility of industrial and environmental park uses will also be addressed during the specific plan process. Until completion of the Specific Plan, discount retail/big box will not be considered in this area.
Transit oriented development will be encouraged around the proposed light rail station at Sierra Madre Villa and the 210 freeway.
Manufacturing and offices are encouraged in the Foothill, Rosemead, and Sierra Madre Villa Boulevard area and protecting the existing industrial uses in the area. An environmental park may be established in this area. An environmental park is a specialized type of business park which focuses on land uses which are intended to provide for the development of products and technologies to improve the quality of the environment. During the development of the Specific Plan, incentives to encourage environmental park uses will be identified. The range of uses permitted in an environmental park would include research and development, light manufacturing, and engineering laboratories. Supportive uses such as professional offices, small scale eating establishments, and child care facilities will provide needed services to employees of the immediate area.
In contrast to other Specific Plan areas, the “flexibility factor” for this area will be 50% rather than the 25%.
d3. Hastings Ranch/Foothill-Rosemead Shopping Center Areas
In this area, the emphasis will be on enhancing the existing retail development and improving pedestrian access between the separate shopping areas. Transit oriented development will be encouraged in this area. Prior to adoption of the specific plan, any proposals to enhance or expand the existing retail centers will provide for significant landscaping improvements to the parking lots.
Specific Plan Documents
- Acknowledgements and Table of Contents
- Chapter 01- Introduction and Orientation
- Chapter 02 – History and Existing Conditions
- Chapter 03 – Land Use Strategy and Urban Design Concept
- Chapter 04 – Public Realm Design Standards and Guidelines
- Chapter 05 – Design Guidelines for the Transit Station Site
- Chapter 06 – Private Realm Development Standards and Guidelines
- Chapter 07 – Mobility
- Chapter 08 – Infrastructure
- Chapter 09 – Implementation
- Chapter 10 – Appendices
- Executive Summary