Design Commission to Take Close Look at Marengo Avenue Development

A new three-story 27-unit multi-family residential development could soon rise on a currently vacant space at 810 North Marengo Ave. in Pasadena, plans submitted to the Department of Planning and Community Development showed.

The project’s developer, RAFA LA Development LLC, has filed an Application for Concept Design Review, which the Pasadena Design Commission will deliberate on at its meeting Tuesday, May 26, which will be conducted in full through teleconference or video conference, in keeping with COVID-19 restrictions.

According to a Planning and Community Development Department report, the project will have two levels of subterranean parking with a total of 65 parking spaces. The project proposes sitting two primary building volumes around a H-shaped main garden or open space area separating the two buildings and providing additional setback from the adjacent properties to the north and south.

A large mature protected oak tree at the southern portion of the site will remain on site as part of a large outdoor garden around which the entirety of the project is designed. A second garden will be situated at the northern portion and connected to the main garden via a rectangular open space programmed with a long, narrow water feature.

Plans also show two common pedestrian access points to the site: one at the north end leading to the secondary garden space, and one adjacent to the driveway, which leads directly to the main garden area.

The site design and circulation are configured to encourage residents to engage with the gardens and open spaces on their way in from the street or from the parking area to the unit entries, the plans showed.

A few conditions recommended by Planning staff are related to the treatment of street facing unit entries, façade articulation, transparency of street facing fence or wall design, elevator location, garden amenities, arbor detailing, and standard conditions for tree protection.

Members of the public can access the virtual meeting through Zoom, by visiting www.zoom.us/j/97950470744 or by calling telephone (669) 900-6833 and using the meeting ID 979 5047 0744.

To send comments, send to mtakeda@cityofpasadena.net before 9 a.m. the day of the meeting.

During the meeting, comments of up to 200 words may be submitted through www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/public-comment.