Pasadena City Council Recap: An Efficient Hour of Work

Photo by Terry Miller/Beacon Media News

Council commits efforts to trees, public art, anti-mansionization

By Gus Herrera

Although this past Monday’s meeting was one of their shortest in recent history, lasting little over an hour, the Pasadena City Council got right down to business and accomplished quite a bit.

The evening’s actions addressed a wide scope of topics, ultimately approving items related to the city’s trees, public art requirements, anti-mansionization efforts, speed limits, and more.

Items 3 and 6 on the consent calendar, which were both approved without opposition, displayed the city’s continued commitment to its trees – a commitment which has earned Pasadena the title of Tree City USA for 26 years and the Tree City Growth Award for 16 years.

According to city staff’s report, Pasadena’s renowned tree canopy is made up of approximately 61,000 street trees and 2,600 park trees. Item 3 will help the maintain the appearance and health of these trees by increasing the city’s contract with George Salinas Tree Preservation Inc. by $199,000 for tree trimming on hardwood trees and $248,960 for trimming on palm trees.

Charles Perez, administrator for the Pasadena Parks and Natural Resources Department, revealed to council that the city’s trees are trimmed according to schedules which range between two and seven-year cycles. Item 3 will change the palm tree trimming cycle from three years, down to two years, and the hardwood tree trimming from a five-year, to a three-year cycle. The shortened cycles will benefit the health and aesthetics of the trees, in addition to minimizing risks from falling branches and palm fronds.

Item 6 amended the city’s Master Street Tree Plan, replacing the Tulip tree with the Mesa Oak tree as the designated species for a stretch of Arbor Street, from Arroyo Boulevard to South Grand Avenue.

Following the removal of five Tulip trees from the aforementioned street in May 2016 (and recommendations from local residents), the city determined that the Mesa Oak would be a more appropriate species for the area. City staff identified the Tulip tree as a poor-performing species, with a high mortality rate.

No existing healthy trees will be removed as a result of Item 6, but, in the future, any trees deemed for removal through the city’s standard removal process will be replaced by the Mesa Oak species.

Council Members Tyron Hampton and Andy Wilson praised staff’s commitment to the city’s trees.

Newly-approved ordinance will now require public art installations for a variety of city projects. Councilman Tyron Hampton praised city’s tree maintenance.
– Photo by Terry Miller/Beacon Media News

“Tree maintenance is a high-visibility issue and reflects our city’s attention to detail … getting this right is a priority, certainly for District 7,” said Wilson.

Following the consent calendar, council unanimously approved several ordinances, one of which revised the city’s public art requirements.

The ordinance will now require public art components for the following: projects over 25,000 square feet; projects valued higher than $500,000 within the city’s Northwest boundary, downtown area, and in Old Pasadena; and all City Capital Improvement Projects.

The ordinance defines public art as “the creation of an original work or service of an artist for a publicly accessible space which could be, but is not limited to, earthworks, mosaics, murals, and sculpture.”

Another ordinance approved the long-awaited revisions to the ND Neighborhood Overlay District – otherwise known as the anti-mansionization efforts for the Lower Hastings Ranch neighborhood. Changes include a new method of calculating floor area ratio, added requirements for second-floor balconies/decks, view protection/privacy standards, a new Neighborhood Development Permit process, and more.

In conclusion, on a night when council hit the ground running full speed, the final item on the agenda lowered the speed limit to 25 mph on the following streets: Bellefontaine Street, between Arroyo Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue; Montana Street, between Canada Avenue and Los Robles Street; and Paloma Street, between Hill Avenue and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue.