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Public Meeting Tonight Looks at Mansionization

Published on Thursday, September 22, 2016 | 5:39 am
 

A public meeting tonight focuses on growing concerns about so-called mansionization on property in the city’s hillside neighborhoods.

Hosted by Pasadena’s Planning and Community Development Department, tonight’s is the first of two recently scheduled meetings to discuss the draft regulations addressing size, height and positioning issues raised by recent home addition and home-building projects.

Despite dissent from some residents, the Pasadena City Council voted 5-2 in April to reject the recommendations of the city’s Planning Commission to ban two-story constructions in the Lower Hastings Ranch community.

“We had some initial meetings in March to try to understand what people’s concerns are with potential mansionization,” said Arthi Varma, Principal Planner of the Pasadena Planning Department. “Since then, we’ve taken their comments and done research and now we’re ready to go out and share some recommendations with the public.”

The issue arises when property owners undertake building larger homes or additions which neighbors feel are “oversized” and which do not adhere to architectural or design standards and fit with the ambiance of already-established older homes in residential neighborhoods.

According to Varma, most of the issues surround mapping, compatibility of design and scale.

Pasadena Heritage, an organization dedicated to preserving local architecture, said in an earlier Pasadena Now report that some of the new projects are “horribly out of scale and character with their surrounding neighborhoods.”

Residents in the hillside areas are concerned about big houses destroying their views. “It’s simply not appropriate to build second stories and ruin people’s views,” said resident Wilson Wong.

William Boyer, Public Information Officer for the City of Pasadena, said the city’s goal is to find a balance between homeowner’s rights and preservation of historical property by listening to all sides of the argument.

“Property rights of all of the people involved is one of the core issues,” said Boyer. “Pasadena has a very proud heritage, a lot of historic homes and neighborhoods. There’s a variety of things that come into play — such as the balancing of property rights and aesthetics.”

Members of the City Council cited individual rights as reasons for why they previously rejected the Planning Commission’s recommendation months ago.

At the time, Councilmember Steve Madison of Pasadena’s 6th District said “no one has a monopoly on how we embrace our neighborhoods.”

Councilmember Margaret McAustin of the 2nd District agreed, saying “I’m loath to limit people’s rights.”

Thursday’s meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pasadena Senior Center, 85 East Holly Street and September 29th at the Church of Nazarene’s Gilmore North Hall, 3700 East Sierra Madre Boulevard.

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