Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 26, 2011

4

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 26, 2011 

City Settles Environmental 
Playhouse Plaza Lawsuit

MTA Votes 
To Cut 
Overall 
Service By 
12 Percent

City Leads State in Pedestrian Fatalities

 
The Metro Board of Directors 
voted 7 to 6 on Thursday 
morning to approve changes to 
Metro bus service that includes 
cutting and shortening of 
some lines the agency said in 
a prepared statement. Changes 
are expected to go into effect 
June 26.

 Reports from the Los Angeles 
Times and local TV stations 
said a number of protesters 
gathered at the MTA 
headquarters in opposition 
to the cuts. In recent weeks, 
the Bus Riders Union has 
threatened to sue the MTA over 
cuts saying they discriminate 
against minority and low-
income riders. The Federal 
Transit Administration has 
announced it would review 
their claims. 

 The agency said Lines 
impacted include the 26, 71, 
94, 96, 155, 217, 230, 247, 
254, 445, 450x, 485, 577, 634, 
751, 757, 760 and 794. “Some 
lines will be shortened, some 
expanded and some will not 
run on some times or days.”

Bus lines 26, 247, 445, 634 
and 757 will be entirely cut 
they said adding that existing 
bus service will replace those 
lines and/or Metro will modify 
existing service to replace 
those lines.

 According to the statement, 
the Board also approved a 
motion asking for a report on 
service changes by Metro and 
other local transit agencies 
since 1997. In addition, 
the motion asked Metro 
staff to develop a policy on 
how savings from service 
reductions are reinvested 
and criteria for ensuring 
continued service in the future 
to “regionally significant 
destinations.” The motion was 
made by Mayor Villaraigosa, 
Supervisor Molina and Mel 
Wilson, a city of Los Angeles 
appointee to the Board the 
agency said.

 The changes amount to 
about 300,000 hours of service 
annually — about 100,000 
hours less than originally 
proposed by Metro staff earlier 
this year officials said, saving 
the MTA about $32 million 
annually — a way to help 
balance their budget. 

 Board members Pam 
O’Connor, Zev Yarolsavsky, 
Ara Najarian, Mike 
Antonovich, Don Knabe, 
Diane DuBois and John 
Fasana all voted in favor of cuts 
while those opposed included, 
Antonio Villaraigosa, Richard 
Katz, Mark Ridley-Thomas, 
Mel Wilson, Jose Huizar and 
Gloria Molina.

 The Pasadena City Council, 
Pasadenans for a Livable 
City , Pasadena Heritage, 
and Playhouse Office LLC 
announced Monday that that 
they settled an environmental 
lawsuit challenging the City’s 
November 2009 approval of a 
new office building at 680 E. 
Colorado Boulevard , located 
across El Molino Avenue 
from the historic Pasadena 
Playhouse.

 Last October, a Los Angeles 
County Superior Court 
judge ruled that the City had 
not fully complied with the 
California Environmental 
Quality Act in its approval 
of the project, although it 
had complied with its zoning 
code and general plan. The 
Court required the City and 
Playhouse Office LLC to 
revise and recirculate the 
environmental impact report 
before the proposed project 
may be reconsidered as 
initially proposed.

 The settlement reached 
by the parties provides a 
compromise solution that 
will fully comply with the 
Court’s direction, meet the 
mandates of state law, and 
serve the best interests of 
the community. The parties 
worked diligently over the 
past few months to come 
together on a process to 
cooperatively design a project 
that will respect the historic 
character of the Playhouse 
District and the Pasadena 
Playhouse and have fewer 
impacts on El Molino Avenue 
, while providing for Class “A” 
office space. The agreement 
provides that a Design 
Architect with expertise in 
historic district compatibility 
will work in cooperation with 
all parties to design a smaller 
revised project for the City’s 
considered approval. 

 The settlement includes the 
following design parameters 
for the revised building, 
Building square footage 
reduced to the maximum 
Code-allowed square footage 
of approximately 145,428 
square feet, and without 
any FAR bonus, off-street 
parking spaces as required 
by the City’s Municipal 
Code, Parking spaces made 
available to the public after 
normal business hours and 
on weekends to facilitate 
economic development 
in the Playhouse District., 
reconfiguration of the 
Paseo and Plaza space, a 
building elevation and edge 
along El Molino Avenue 
in compatible context and 
scale with the Pasadena 
Playhouse and other 
historic buildings facing El 
Molino, consistent with the 
Guidelines, encouragement 
of pedestrian crossing at the 
corners of El Molino Avenue 
at Colorado Boulevard and 
Green Street , without a mid-
block crosswalk, respectfully 
consider the scale, massing 
and articulation of adjacent 
historic buildings so as not 
to overwhelm or diminish 
historic structures and 
create a prominent central 
ceremonial entrance on 
Colorado Boulevard

 Once the project redesign 
has been resubmitted to the 
City, it will be agendized 
for a future public hearing 
before the Pasadena City 
Council for revised land use 
entitlements and, if approved, 
will proceed to public 
hearings before the Pasadena 
Design Commission for 
consideration of the revised 
design. Dates for the public 
hearings will be announced.

 Mayor Bill Bogaard said: 
“The City appreciates the 
willingness of all parties to 
work together to resolve this 
matter. As the project moves 
forward, the settlement terms 
assure that participation by 
all interested residents will be 
available. The City Council’s 
interest is to assure that new 
development works within 
the parameters and process 
set up by the Zoning Code.”

By Dean Lee

 Recent ranking showing 
Pasadena as the second highest 
location for the number of 
pedestrian related fatal and 
injury collisions in the state 
has led city officials, including 
police and city council 
members, to take a hard look at 
factors surrounding the findings 
done by the California Office of 
Traffic safety.

 The findings were reported for 
cities with populations between 
100,001 and 250,000 people.

 A number of councilmembers 
questions the statistics arguing 
that the city has more people 
walking around than other 
cities. From 2005 to 20010 
pedestrian collisions peaked in 
2008 with 104 of which only one 
was fatal. In 2010 the number 
dropped to 73 none of which 
caused death. 

 “Not all cities have a Rose Bowl 
loop, so you’ve got perhaps 
thousands of people walking 
around,” said Councilmember 
Steve Haderlein. “I’m wondering 
if that statement might be a little 
misleading in that we may have 
more opportunities for those 
kinds of things (Injuries and 
fatalities).” 

 Haderlien added, “It not 
necessarily a dangerous place to 
walk, but there is a lot of people 
walking so we end up with more 
accidents.” 

 Joaquin Siques, an engineer 
for the city’s Department 
of Transportation, said one 
reason was that Pasadena was a 
destination hub for all kinds of 
activity not just around the Rose 
Bowl.

 Siques also said that right turns 
result in the highest number of 
collisions something that would 
be address in an upcoming 
safety campaign set to debut 
next month. 

 “It’s either, the vehicle making 
a right turn on red and looking 
over their left shoulder to 
try and get into to gap or the 
vehicle making the right turn 
on green who’s not looking for 
the pedestrian up the sidewalk 
behind them,” he explained.

 A number of solutions were 
discussed including, more 
signs, colored walking areas and 
inlight, so called, “Sharks Tooth” 
crosswalks.

 Through two grants city officials 
said there three key components 
to a safety campaign, including, 
education focused on 
motorist awareness, a study to 
identify treatments that may 
enhance pedestrian safety at 
intersections, and increased 
enforcement of violations with 
pedestrian safety by police. 

 “I want to commend the 
department for helping to 
launch this educational process 
and get people thinking in 
new ways about how the street 
network functions and it ties 
very neatly into the mobility 
element of the General Plan,” 
Councilmember Terry Tornek 
said.


Meeting 
Focuses 
on Public 
Safety

 

 Residents of District 4 got a 
chance Thursday night to meet 
the officers assigned to their 
neighborhoods along with 
statistics on how safe the area is 
east of Altadena Drive. 

Lieutenant Thomas Delgado 
gave the latest crime statistics 
saying there was an upward 
trend in burglaries being 
committed by young adults and 
kids, some as young as 12.

 “For commercial burglaries 
we have 17 to date,” he said. 
“Residential burglaries in 
our services area, we have 22, 
vehicle burglaries we are up 
to 39, robberies two, purse 
snatching none, strong-arm 
robberies one, and grand theft 
one.” All the stats were starting 
from 2010 he said. 

 The meeting opened with 
Police Chief Phillip Sanchez 
explaining how not to be 
victimized saying people should 
not leave valuables in their 
cars. He said there has been 
a rash of burglaries at nearby 
fitness centers. The meeting 
also focused on the rise in the 
homeless population in the area 
and the city’s inability to stop 
unwanted flyers and leaflets left 
at people’s homes. 

Activists Julia 
Butterfly Hill 
and Daryl 
Hannah to 
Speak At PCC

 Environmental activists 
Julia Butterfly Hill and Daryl 
Hannah will be speaking about 
the importance of personal 
participation in shaping a 
sustainable future on April 
21 at 7 p.m. in the Sexson 
Auditorium of Pasadena City 
College. The event is sponsored 
by the Associated Students and 
the Natural Sciences Division 
of PCC.

 This event is free and open 
to the public. All donations 
will benefit local non-profit 
organizations, including the 
Arroyo Seco Foundation and 
Arroyo Food Co-Op. Parking 
is available in all PCC lots for 
$2.

 For more information, call 
Hanna Israel at (949) 280-
7522.

Citizen Journalism Meet-up

 

 

 

 

The Pasadena Community 
Network and this newspaper 
are holding a workshop on 
Citizen Journalism. 

 This group is the place where 
aspiring journalists can learn 
from trained professionals 
and support their local 
community by covering 
what’s really happening in 
their neighborhoods.

 We will put the news in 
your hands. Learn how 
to find the story, the tools 
needed to capture the story 
and the means to tell the 
story using the power of 
video, audio and print along 
with online social media 
The next meeting is March 
15 from 6 p.m. to 8p.m. at 
the Pasadena Community 
Network - Studio G, 2057 N. 
Los Robles Ave.

 For more info call 
626.794.8585 or visit 
pasadenan.com.

 
Learn not just how 
to blog but how to 
report the news

Caltech Names Five 
Distinguished Alumni

Pet of the 
Week


PCC Appoints 
Measure P 
Oversight 
Committee 
Member

 The California Institute of 
Technology (Caltech) has 
recognized five of its graduates 
with the Distinguished 
Alumni Award, the highest 
honor regularly bestowed 
by the Institute. The award 
acknowledges a particular 
achievement, a series of 
achievements, or a career of 
achievements of noteworthy 
value. Since its inception in 
1966, the award has been 
granted to outstanding alumni 
in the sciences, engineering, 
business, and the arts. 

The 2011 Distinguished 
Alumni Award recipients are 
(pictured left to right) Leroy E. 
Hood, Steven E. Koonin, Cleve 
B. Moler, Carolyn C. Porco, and 
Albert Y. C. Yu

Lilly, a beautiful, two year 
old, longhair cat is friendly 
and loves attention. She 
is rather petite and would 
be a great companion for 
someone in an apartment 
or condo that allows pets. 
Come visit with Lilly today!

 The regular cat adoption 
fee is $70 which includes 
the spay or neuter surgery, 
microchip, vaccinations, 
and a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet.

 Please call 626-792-7151 
and ask about A284468 
or come to the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA, 
361 S. Raymond Ave , 
Pasadena CA , 91105 . 
Our adoption hours are 
11-4 Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday, 
Wednesday, Thursday, and 
Friday, and 9-4 Saturday. 
Directions and photos of 
all pets updated hourly 
may be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org

Journalist to speak at Citizen 
Journalism Speakers Series

 The Pasadena Area 
Community College District 
Board of Trustees announced 
the appointment of Odom 
Stamps to serve on the 
Measure P Citizen’s Oversight 
Committee, which will report 
on the progress of PCC 
renovations and construction 
funded by voter-approved 
Measure P Bond funds. The 
passage of Measure P in 2002 
authorized PCC to issue up 
to $150 million in bonds to 
finance the construction. 
Bonds will be repaid through 
local property taxes.

 The 12-member committee 
meets quarterly to ensure that 
campus projects are developed 
and funded as specified in 
Measure P. The committee also 
publishes a progress report 
to the community in the fall 
PCC President’s Report to the 
Community each year.

Sister Cities Committee is 
raising funds for Japan

 

 Andre Coleman, Journalist 
& Author will speak at the 
“2011 Citizen Journalism 
Speakers Series”. Coleman 
has worked as a professional 
and freelance reporter for 
almost 20 years. His work 
has appeared in Black 
Voice News, The Daily 
News, Pasadena Star-News 
and many more. In 1998, 
Coleman optioned his first 
screenplay. Today, he is the 
city reporter for the Pasadena 
Weekly, working on his next 
novel and producing his 
first independent motion 
picture. This free lecture 
event features local and 
national journalists, telling 
their personal stories and 
adventures in the life of 
journalism and media. 
The event will be held on 
Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 
6:00pm, hosted by Pasadena 
Community Network and 
Mountain Views News.

 Each program includes a 
presentation by the speakers 
and an engaging 15-minute 
question and answer session 
with citizen journalists and 
community members in the 
audience.

 The speaker series will be 
held at: Donald R. Wright 
Auditorium 285 E. Walnut 
St., Pasadena, CA 91101 
(located in the Pasadena 
Central Library). Door Open 
at 6:00pm

 

 Mishima, a sister city to 
Pasadena since 1957, is located 
about 300 miles south of the 
epicenter of the March 11, 
magnitude 9.0, earthquake and 
tsunami. Many of Mishima’s 
residents are still trying to locate 
their relatives in the ravaged 
areas of Japan and they live with 
disruptions of transportation 
and power, as well as the threat 
of nuclear fallout.

 The Pasadena community is 
raising funds for the residents 
of Mishima. Please make your 
check payable to: Pasadena 
Sister Cities Committee and 
write Japan Relief in memo 
box. All of the funds collected 
will be sent to the Mishima 
International Relations 
Association (MIRA) for 
distribution to the relief centers 
in the devastated areas of 
northern Japan. Your donation 
is tax deductible.

 Checks can be left at City Hall 
or Mail to: Marcia Montez, 
President Pasadena Sister Cities 
Committee 100 North Garfield 
Avenue, Room 228 Pasadena, 
CA 91109. 

 Thank you for your support 
and we hope you will send 
this email on to those in your 
personal and professional circle 
of friends and acquaintances.

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No.327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com