Council is Dark on Monday, but Weighty Issues Loom on the Horizon

There is no City Council meeting on Monday, but some important issues are scheduled for the Jan. 25 meeting.

The council is scheduled take up changes zoning code amendments on nonconforming uses and the selection process for the Police Oversight Commission.

Last week, the city began accepting applications to the commission, even though details of the selection process have not been ironed out.

The application is available on the city’s website, but so far no deadline to return the applications has been posted.

The 11-member commission has no members and the auditor has not been named.

From the pool of applicants, council members from each of the city’s seven districts will eventually nominate a commissioner, and the mayor will nominate another.

In addition, three at-large commissioners from community-based” groups will be nominated.

The council will have final approval on all the commissioners and the auditor.

Nominees will need to be city residents, though not necessarily residents of the particular district of the nominating councilmember.

Proposed changes to the city’s zoning code that would terminate nonconforming uses in the event of the revocation, termination or suspension of any license or permit that is required in order to operate a nonconforming business are also scheduled to be deliberated at the meeting.

The amendment could allow the city more authority in dealing with assisted living facilities.

“The City Council has expressed concerns about potential impacts associated with certain types of land uses when they become concentrated in any one particular geographic region,” according to a city staff report released last month. “Specifically, the overconcentration of land uses identified as Residential Care – General, may be incompatible with an otherwise residential neighborhood given their commercial nature and 24 hour operations.”

The city has long sought policies to reign in nonconforming businesses.

In October, Planning Director David Reyes updated the Planning Commission on changes to the city’s nonconforming use provision that could give the city more control over some long-term healthcare facilities in Northwest Pasadena and other nonconforming businesses.

The change would shorten the time period that noncomforming businesses could keep their status if they shut down.

An overconcentration of these types of facilities currently exists on North Fair Oaks Avenue, near Washington Boulevard, according to a city staff report.

“The proposed text amendment seeks to ensure that nonconforming uses that require a license or permit to operate, may not be re-established if that license is revoked or suspended,” state the report.

In December, city staff recommended that the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals deny an effort to re-establish a nonconforming use at the site of a previous recovery center on North Raymond Avenue.

The City Council could also receive an update on the rejection of its appeal by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

On Monday, SCAG denied an appeal by Pasadena of its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation by the state, which is mandating that the city ensures plans to build 9,400 units of new housing by October 2029.

The final determination will not be released until after Jan. 22, when the RHNA Appeals Board issues its proposed Final 0RHNA Allocation Plan.