Newsletter from 11/18/21

Friends and Neighbors of Together La Canada,
We’re thrilled to share our report on this week’s activity: 11/14/21-11/18/21!
At the recent November 16, 2021 hybrid La Canada City Council meeting at City Hall, the City Council voted 4-0 to deny the general plan amendment and new MU-3 zone change requested by the 600 Foothill project developer.  Together La Canada’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of the mitigated negative declaration (MND), vesting tentative tract map, tree removal permit and conditional use permit (CPU)  was also upheld since that approval was conditioned on the rejected general plan amendment and zoning change.
The City Council agreed that this 3 story development must be done on the city’s terms and development standards.  The City Council had zero input on the standards of the developer-proposed MU-3.  Mayor Walker stated that “if zoning changes are needed, we need to make changes but we need to go through the process, taking into consideration what is good for the city as a whole and not just for one project.”   The City Council was clearly displeased with the developer-proposed zoning that did not comply with the city’s Downtown Village Specific Plan.The meeting started at 6pm and ended around 11:00 PM.  Many speakers, both for and against the project, spoke directly to a highly engaged city council, expressing their concerns and/or support.  Participants at home called in via phone or raised their hand on Zoom to speak.   It was wonderful to see so many citizens participating in the meeting and voicing their opinions.
At this time we do not know if the applicant who owns the property will go back to the drawing board and redesign the project to conform to the current Downtown Village Specific Plan. The City Council is in support of senior housing done on the city’s terms and development standards and not the developers. 
Together La Canada will continue to be involved with city planning to help ensure that the next proposed project conforms to the current zoning.  In addition, we will follow the housing element, zone changes and DVSP review to ensure no inappropriate changes are made to the original DVSP standards.    
Please consider making a donation to TLC to support our efforts. Send donations to: TLC, P.O. Box 1446, La Canada Flintridge,  CA  91012-5446