South Pasadena City Council Buys Surplus 710 Freeway Property

The South Pasadena City Council has purchased two vacant lots from Caltrans, out of several properties that the transportation authority originally planned to be part of the SR 710 freeway surface extension.

A report on Tiger, the student newspaper at South Pasadena High School, said the City Council is now moving to rezone the two vacant lots, located at 1107 Grevelia Street and 2006 Berkshire Avenue and previously part of 112 properties in South Pasadena that Caltrans offered for sale, and convert them into public parks.

The South Pasadena City Council deliberated on an ordinance to amend the city’s zoning map during its open session on Wednesday, December 7, the report said.

The paper also reported Caltrans’ decision to release the properties is a major step toward reducing the possibility of the 710 Freeway extension.
The report said Caltrans wrote the City of South Pasadena in 2014 assessing interest in vacant lots which the city had planned to convert into residential areas. In January this year, the city offered to purchase and rezone the vacant lots for additional open space. Caltrans granted South Pasadena a six-month rezoning period ending in 2017.

“With these two lots, we want to increase the amount of open space and park amenities for our residents since these areas tend to be more remote and away from public parks,” South Pasadena City Manager Sergio Gonzalez told the Tiger newspaper.

The Caltrans website has published an offer for sale for a number of properties it owns on the SR-710 Corridor. Thirty-three of the properties are in South Pasadena, three in Pasadena, and six are in El Sereno in the city of Los Angeles.