By Susan Motander
Recently public input at Monrovia’s City Council Meetings have often focused on retaining the character of the city’s various neighborhoods. Speaker after speaker has risen to decry the potential “mansionization” of the city. Again and again the specter of “becoming another Arcadia” has become a battle cry for those who want to maintain the character of the city as it is.
To explore the sense of the community and its desires, the council imposed a six month moratorium on both building permits and demolition permits for houses built prior to 1940.
Part of the stated reason for the moratoria (plural of moratorium) was to allow city staff to reach out to the community in public meetings, workshops and forums. The city is now beginning the process of creating a plan for such gatherings. According to Craig Jimenez, the city’s Planning Division Manager, this process will begin with staff reaching out to “shoarholder” groups such as the Monrovia Historic Preservation Group (MOHPG), realtors and real estate brokers, as well as developers, architects and builders.
After this phase, Jimenez said the city would then begin to involve the public in general. Soon, there will be access to further information on the city’s website including a signup to request notification of all meetings and workshops. No timeline has yet been established for these meetings or even for when the request for notification will be established.
After all the public input, Jimenez said the information would be presented to the Historic Preservation Commission, Planning Commission and City Council. Asked if the information would be ready for presentation to this council or to the one which will be in place after the April election, Jimenez said that he doubted that such a report could be prepared prior to the April election.
