Flowers of Marengo

Paul Novak of Novak and Associates stated before the zoning commission that the construction of low-income senior housing at the corner of Fair Oaks and Tremont will be a good thing for the neighbors. I fail to see how I, a single man in my 40's, will benefit by having a low-income senior center in walking distance of my home. Yes, it would be nice to get rid of the blighted boarded up buildings that are there, but the trade off is a building that towers on this tiny property. What are the feelings of the neighbors in Flowers of Marengo as to having a building of this nature in our neighborhood?

By Steve Lipira

Aesthetics

It is not just a question of changing zoning, but a question of aesthetics and fitting in to the neighborhood. As planned, the building is 45 feet tall, 3 stories, and only 10 feet from the Tremont sidewalk. The adjacent building on Tremont is only single story, and no buildings in the area are more than 2 stories high. Six foot high concrete block walls are planned right at the sidewalks of both Tremont and Fair Oaks. All parking is visible from the street, only 6 spaces covered, and not even 1 parking place is provided for every two units, even though each unit can have up to two licenced drivers. This does not meet any of the current zoning codes.

In the early 80's this area was re-zoned due to a high saturation of Institutional Living Facilities - 13 are located within the Washington Revitalization Area, varying in density from 6 units per acre to 55 units per acre. None of them have densities anywhere close to the 72 units per acre planned for this site. We have building codes for good reasons - we should not be changing the laws just to accomodate a "pet-project". The Fair Oaks/Orange Grove specific plan is not even completed yet - we should not be making "piece-meal" decisions on changes in the area, but should develop the plan first and fit projects to the city and area plans rather than fitting the city plans to a specific project.

A project of this type will not encourage economic development or activity, but it would substantially affect the view of the mountains as one exits Pasadena by this major corridor.

By Robert Wittry

Zone Change, Conditional Use

The City Council approved a zone change for the Senior Housing project. HUD is providing money for a 65 unit facility. Due to the zone change, the project will go through a "Conditional Use Process" for planning review and approval. Flowers of Marengo has written a letter to the planning department expressing our concerns and conditions we believe are important for providing a nice living space for our potential new senior neighbors. Our letter can be viewed from this web site - go back to the home page to find the listing.

By Robert Wittry

No change

Still no change in the status of this project. The planning department indicated they would let us know if anything was submitted. Still nothing as been received. We are told that they selected a different Architect.

Please see the Senior Housing letter under ''Community Pages'' on the Home Page.