Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, March 2, 2019

4

SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 2, 2019 

The Huntington and LA Arts 
Organization Clockshop 
Reunite for Art Initiative

Raymond Hill Development 
Project and Tree Removals

KPCC in Person Events

Unheard LA salon: March 5, 7 p.m. - The Crawford Family Forum, 
474 S Raymond Ave, Pasadena

Everybody has a story. What’s yours? Let’s figure it out together. 
Before we kick off the third season of Unheard LA later this 
spring, we invite you to join KPCC In Person producers and past 
participants as we share some stories from the first two seasons, 
discuss the Unheard LA submission and editing process, answer 
your questions, and listen to your story ideas. We’re hosting a this 
Tuesday at our home in Pasadena.

Show Your Work — stories of arts education in LA

March 9, 11 a.m. - The Crawford Family Forum, 474 S Raymond 
Ave, Pasadena

Arts education reporter Carla Javier will host an event featuring 
a discussion with three arts teachers from around Southern 
California sharing how they’ve used the arts to connect with their 
students. They’ll discuss with Carla how they see their roles in their 
schools and their communities — and the highs and lows they 
experience doing their jobs.

Unheard LA – live in North Hollywood

March 30, 5:30 p.m. - El Portal Theatre, 11206 Weddington St, 
North Hollywood

The community-centered storytelling series Unheard LA is back 
for a third season, and we’re kicking things off this March in North 
Hollywood with a live show. We’re delighted to bring stories from 
real people all over Southern California to the Debbie Reynolds 
MainStage at the El Portal Theatre, right at the center of North 
Hollywood’s NoHo Arts District.

 

 The City has recently 
received questions and 
concerns from several 
residents in the Raymond 
Hill area about a 
development project located 
at 203 Cedar Crest and 204 
Mockingbird Lane that is 
now in the early stages of 
construction. Specifically, 
concerns were raised about 
pending tree removals and 
whether the removals had 
been reviewed by the City as 
part of a public process.

 The project has been 
reviewed multiple times 
before several City 
commissions since it was 
first introduced in 2015. 
Like all meetings of City 
commissions, these were 
public hearings. Residents 
near the project received 
postcards in the mail 
informing them that the 
project was going to be 
discussed at a public hearing. 
Concerns were raised by 
residents, and the project 
was modified in response to 
those concerns.

 A brief history of the 
203 Cedar Crest and 204 
Mockingbird Lane project:

The applicants first presented 
the proposal to the Planning 
Commission on June 22, 
2015. The project is a 2,475 
square-foot duplex house 
on a privately owned 8,044 
square-foot lot that is zoned 
for high density residential 
development. 

At the June 2015 meeting, 
residents provided input to 
the Planning Commission 
that resulted in changes 
to the proposed project, 
including reduced height, 
changed setbacks from 
the street and neighboring 
properties as well as changes 
to the slope of the driveway.

The modified project was 
reviewed by the Planning 
Commission at additional 
public hearings on July 27, 
2015 and again on August 
22, 2015, where additional 
public comment was 
provided. 

The modified project taking 
in to account comments 
received from the public was 
approved by the Planning 
Commission at the August 
2015 hearing. The Planning 
Commission also approved 
the initial environmental 
study as required by the 
California Environmental 
Quality Act (CEQA). This 
initial study covered a range 
of topic of concern such as 
traffic, air quality, seismic 
safety and a variety of other 
issues. 

A tree removal application 
was reviewed by the 
Natural Resources and 
Environmental Commission 
on September 29, 2015. 
The NREC received tree 
inspection reports from a 
city arborist, an independent 
professional arborist and the 
developer’s arborist.

Based on the arborists’ 
reports, the NREC approved 
the removal of two unhealthy 
oak trees (on the lower 
portion of Mockingbird 
Lane) and four pepper trees, 
which were also determined 
to be unhealthy. An oak tree 
on the upper portion/Cedar 
Crest side of the property 
was preserved, but approved 
to be trimmed. All of the 
removed oak and pepper 
trees will be replaced using 
the City’s tree replacement 
formula.

In early 2016 the City was 
made aware of historic 
resources, specifically the 
remains of a wall from the 
historic Raymond Hotel 
and a former (now sealed) 
pedestrian tunnel. A 
supplemental environmental 
review was required.

As a result of the historic 
findings, the project went 
before the City’s Cultural 
Heritage Commission and 
required that the developer 
prepare additional studies to 
address these issues. 

The CHC approved a 
supplemental study that 
found that there was no 
impact on historic resources. 
However they added 
conditions of approval to 
protect the wall during 
construction. The developer 
has integrated the wall into 
the approved landscape plan. 
There are no visible remains 
of the tunnel and it appears 
to have been destroyed in 
1964 with the construction 
of the apartment building at 
1625 Raymond Hill Rd. 

The project underwent an 
additional review by the 
Planning Commission on 
June 4, 2018.

 The City takes the issue of tree 
removal and replacement 
very seriously. The Council 
recently modified the 
City’s tree ordinance to 
strengthen the requirements 
for the replacement of 
trees removed during 
development.

 The Huntington Library, Art 
Collections, and Botanical 
Gardens named Los Angeles 
arts organization Clockshop 
as its partner for the fourth 
year of The Huntington’s 
/five initiative. Artists 
invited to participate in 
this year’s project are Nina 
Katchadourian, Beatriz 
Santiago Muñoz, and Rosten 
Woo, along with writer Dana 
Johnson and Poet Laureate 
for the City of Los Angeles 
Robin Coste Lewis. Each 
participant will create new 
work based on research in 
The Huntington’s collections 
that will be presented in 
public programs and an 
exhibition scheduled to be 
on view Nov. 10, 2019–Feb. 
25, 2020.

 A part of The Huntington’s 
Centennial Celebration, 
which runs from September 
2019 to September 2020, 
the 2019 /five project uses 
Thomas More’s satirical 
work Utopia (1516) as a 
thematic point of departure, 
focusing on perfection, 
utopia, and the utopian 
ambitions of railroad and 
real estate visionary Henry E. 
Huntington, the institution’s 
founder.

 “We couldn’t be more 
thrilled to be working 
with Clockshop on this 
year’s /five initiative,” said 
Jennifer A. Watts, curator 
of photography and visual 
culture at The Huntington. 
“They’ve helped select a 
stellar interdisciplinary 
cohort of artists, as well as a 
compelling theme that holds 
particular resonance for the 
institution’s hundredth year. 
In a sense, The Huntington 
stands as one man’s utopian 
dream. Henry Huntington 
spent millions of dollars 
over decades collecting rare 
books, fine art, and botanical 
specimens from all over the 
world. These artists are sure 
to bring new meanings to 
bear on The Huntington and 
its rich collections.”

 Founded by artist and 
filmmaker Julia Meltzer 
in 2004, Clockshop 
commissions work by 
artists and writers and 
curates public programs 
about social and political 
issues. It partnered with 
The Huntington in 2016 
on “Radio Imagination,” a 
project exploring the work of 
the late science fiction writer 
Octavia E. Butler, whose 
papers The Huntington 
holds.

 “The Huntington’s 
collections provide endless 
opportunities for artists, 
writers, and the full range of 
creative voices,” said Meltzer. 
“They include rare and 
wonderful treasures. And we 
are inviting these artists to 
plumb the treasure chest to 
consider questions around 
the idea of utopia and how 
we might find or build these 
spaces here and now.”

 More information will be 
announced later in the year.

 Art Initiative is a part 
of The Huntington’s 
Centennial Celebration.

South Pasadena Library 
Free February Events

BARKS AND BOOKS, March 
11

Ages 5 – 10 years 3:00 p.m.–
4:00 p.m.

Children’s Room

Children are invited to visit the 
library to read animal-related 
short stories of their choice 
to dogs from the Pasadena 
Humane Society Companion 
Animal Program. Not only 
does this make reading

more fun, it also builds a child’s 
confidence in reading aloud. 
Also, the available books will 
help

children realize that animals 
experience a range of emotions 
similar to their own and that 
they have basic needs too. This 
will, in turn, encourage them 
to appreciate the importance of 
treating all

animals with respect and 
kindness. Sign-ups are required. 
Go to: southpasadenaca.gov/ 

register.

CALIFORNIA YOUNG 
READER MEDAL VOTING 
March 4 – March 10

Children’s Room

The Library will have a voting 
booth set up in the Children’s 
Room for children and teens 
to cast their ballots to select the 
California Young Reader Medal 
Award winners. Children and 
teens who read the nominees 
may visit the Children’s Room 
in the second week of March 
to vote. The CYRM website 
california youngreadermedal.
org/nominees lists the selected 
titles for this year’s voting.

CALIFORNIA YOUNG 
READER MEDAL 
CELEBRATION March 9

All ages 10:30 a.m.

Children’s Room

Children of all ages are 
invited to a celebration of the 
CYRM nominees. Picture 
book nominees will be shared 
and children will have an 
opportunity to create a craft 
to promote their favorite 
nominee.

In addition, children may cast 
their votes at the CYRM ballot 
box. For more information, call 
(626) 403-7358.


Community 
Input 
Requested: 
Next Year’s 
Priority 
Initiatives

 The San Marino budget 
process for Fiscal Year 
2019-2020 is currently 
underway, and City 
Council is considering 
what special projects – or 
priority initiatives – staff 
should dedicate time and/
or financial resources to (in 
addition to their standard 
operating tasks) next year. 

 Using the City’s 8 “Critical 
Success Factors” as a 
framework, City Council 
has identified 21 initiative 
ideas to consider further. 
These 21 options are still 
in the idea phase; they 
are not fully fleshed out 
plans. Before making any 
final decisions and turning 
them into fully planned 
initiatives, City Council is 
interested in hearing which 
initiative ideas community 
members think are the most 
important. 

 If you have clarifying 
questions about any of the 
potential initiative ideas, 
please feel free to call us at 
(626) 300-0781 or email us 
at CityManagerOffice@

 CityofSanMarino.org. 
To take the survey visit: 
cityofsanmarino.org. 


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