Senior Living Facility’s Nonconforming Status Could Go Back Back to Board of Zoning Appeals for Review

The Planning Commission will vote on a call for review of a zoning administrator’s determination to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) regarding the nonconforming status of a proposed senior living facility.

Pasadena Senior Villa Living wants to open a residential care facility at 1811 N. Raymond Ave., the previous location of the Pasadena Recovery Center.

The city revoked the site’s nonconforming status in 2018 after the Pasadena Recovery Center shut down and the claimed nonconforming use designation was not used for 12 months.

In December, the board voted 4-1 to continue Pasadena Senior Villa Living’s efforts to re-establish the property’s nonconforming use status. The matter was not heard in January or at last Friday’s BOZA meeting. 

But lawyers sent letters showing that the site had been operating as a different use and had preserved its nonconforming status.

After reviewing letters and other materials supplied by lawyers, the zoning administrator ruled that the site had maintained its nonconforming use.

Planning Commissioner David Coher called for the item to come before the Planning Commission where a vote could send it back to BOZA. 

“I asked to have the Planning Commission consider bringing this item back to the BOZA because I want to ensure both full transparency of the details leading to the decision and that the community has an opportunity to be heard on the matter,” Coher told Pasadena Now. 

“When a decision is steeped in procedure, like here, it’s especially important that everyone have a chance to see and understand the ‘why’ behind it, to ensure both that the right decision has been made and that the community has comfort with the decision,” Coher said. “The last time this matter came up was two decades ago, so it’s important that we get things right as the decisions made here, today, may be choosing what we have to live with for a generation.”

Nonconforming uses were established before the codes and policies that are in place today were approved and allowed businesses to operate outside of current regulations, including zoning codes.

Under current zoning codes, a residential care facility is not permitted in the district, which is zoned for multifamily residential homes.

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

In January, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s zoning code that allows the city to terminate a local business’ nonconforming use status in the event of the revocation, termination or suspension of any license or permit that is required in order to operate a nonconforming business.

The center was made famous by the reality television show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” On June 8, 2018, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) suspended the license required to operate the facility after investigating the death of a patient and several other violations. 

The center was allowed to open at the site because a facility at the site was granted a conditional use permit (CUP) in 1963 for a 98-bed convalescent home that opened two years later. This grandfathered in the ability for future residential care facilities to operate at the site as a nonconforming use.

“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,” states the report. 

In October, Planning Director David Reyes told the Planning Commission that the change would shorten the time period that nonconforming businesses could keep their status if they shut down, but Reyes did not single out any particular type of business. 

“We’re not looking to shut them down, but some other agency may shut them down, or they stopped on their own accord and they want to re-establish in 12 months and it may not be desirable for them to reopen,” Reyes said.

The commission meets at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The meeting can be viewed at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89382866941