General Plan First Draft Sparks Development Concerns

Pasadena unveiled its first draft of the city’s 2014 General Plan this week, showing a focus on public education and posing caps on new development for the next 20 years, according to the Pasadena Star News.

Planning began in 2009, and following the environmental process, the final plan will return to the council for approval within a year.

Members of the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association and the Old Pasadena Management District, among other downtown organizations argued that the suggested development caps of a maximum of 3,750 residential housing units and 2.5 million commercial square feet was not enough to foster economic growth in the burgeoning district.

The council voted Monday to raise the caps to 5,000 residential units and 4 million square feet of commercial space for the environmental study phase. The council will have the option of decreasing the development caps in the final plan.

Another controversial item in the plan is city staff’s recommendation to turn the North Lake district into higher-density mixed use development, sparking concern from residents who said the increased development would only overshadow single family homes in the area.

The draft EIR of the city’s General Plan will be released in 2014.

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