Parks Commission to Hear Details on Proposed New Pocket Park

Pasadena residents living near Lamanda Park Library could soon get their own “pocket” park, one that includes benches, picnic tables, and a playground for young children. 

The city Public Works Department is recommending the Recreation and Parks Commission support the concept design of the Lamanda Park Library Pocket Park.

The commission will hear details of the design concept of the park at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“The library location is within an identified underserved area where the nearest neighborhood park is more than [a half-mile] away,” according to a staff report on the proposal.

In 2016, the City Council designated the eastern portion of the grounds as a pocket park location. Funding for park planning and design was appropriated in FY 2018.

The council has appropriated $300,000 in residential impact fee (RIF) funds for construction of the park. In FY 2021, an additional $75,000 in RIF funds was appropriated toward the project based on the updated engineer’s estimates.

The park would include a playground with equipment for children 2 to 5 years old, a playground shade structure, a rubberized play surface, new sodded lawn for a free-play area, a safety fence between the playground and street, six park benches, three picnic tables, perimeter security fencing at the south edge of the park, a pet-friendly a drinking fountain with a bottle filling station, a trash enclosure structure, irrigation improvements, new drought-tolerant landscaping, mulch areas under oak trees, with shrubbery and a park monument sign.

If the project receives support from the Recreation and Parks Commission, staff will submit design documents to the Planning and Community Development Department for public comment and consideration of a conditional use permit (CUP). 

“It is anticipated the Planning Commission will review the CUP application for approval in December 2020,” according to the staff report. “Upon approval of the CUP, the project will be advertised for bid early 2021, with construction to start in Spring 2021,” the report states.