Council Approves New La Salle High School Master Plan, New Tree Plantings, and Minimum Wage Ordinance Revisions

LaSalle High School got the green light to implement their 15-year expansion plans and a proposal for Pasadena to plant hundreds of trees over the next year was also approved at Monday night’s Pasadena City Council meeting.

A $25 million, 15-year master plan to add a new aquatic center, gym, field house and parking lots for LaSalle, Pasadena’s largest private high school.

The plan, in two phases, would expand the property to a total of 83,874 square feet. A new performing arts center would also be built in the second phase of the program.

“We need excellent facilities to support our excellent programs and education,” said Dr. Richard Gray, president of the school.

Scores of students filled the Council chambers, along with a number of cheerleaders, in support of the plan.

The plan would also come with nearly 100 various conditions, to mitigate the long-term construction impacts on residents and neighbors, but resident Kevin Wheeler spoke out against the expansion, speaking on behalf of “six or seven other neighbors,” and offering what he called “compromises” in response.

Wheeler proposed that the school place the new outdoor aquatic center indoors as opposed to the proposed facility, and that building heights be lowered to protect neighbor’s views of the San Gabriel mountains Wheeler also suggested that the school limit the number of future “third party uses,” such as Pop Warner football and AYSO soccer,

Student Elijah Griffin told the Council, in response to complaints about construction noise, “Noise and other hindrances should not get in the way of our education. And this is not just for us, but for all the other La Salle students to come.”

The expansion was approved unanimously.

Separately, the Council approved the planting of 600 new trees between October and May as part of the first season of a three-year, $289,140 contract with West Coast Arborists.

According to Charles Peretz, Pasadena’s Parks and Natural Resources administrator, the City will actually plant fewer, yet hardier, trees this coming year. Care for the trees will be done through an agreement with West Coast Arborists to water and maintain them.

The City will also be replacing more trees this coming year, replacing dead trees that have fallen victim to the current drought, according to Public Works Director Ara Maloyan.

Maloyan also told the council that trees damaged in the December 2013 windstorm have all since been replaced with a stronger species.

Other business handled by the Council last night included approving amendments to the City-Wide Minimum Wage Ordinance that passed in March and took effect on July 1.

City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris said the amending law intends to clarify and revise the ordinance. The changes do not affect the dollar amounts of the minimum wages, but instead focused on administrative issues.

According to a Fact Sheet prepared by Bagneris, the amending ordinance intends to clarify who in city government is responsible for administering the program, as well as certain employee classification procedures, obligations of employers regarding notifications and postings and the method of calculating the CPI (consumer price index) for purposes of raising the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.

The Council also approved recommended modifications to the City’s Transit Oriented Development ordinance.