East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 1 City Council February 28, 2022
ATTACHMENT C
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC FEEDBACK
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 1 City Council February 28, 2022
ATTACHMENT C
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC FEEDBACK
Prior to the preparation of the recommended East Colorado Specific Plan (ECSP), the City held the following community meetings/events:
• Three citywide open houses to introduce and solicit feedback on the Specific Plan Update Program and the General Plan vision on each of the eight planning areas o Open House 1 (March 8, 2018 – Jackie Robinson Community Center) o Open House 2 (March 15, 2018 – Pasadena Senior Center) o Open House 3 (March 29, 2018 – Victory Park Recreation Center)
• Seven plan-specific events to present and solicit community feedback on the ECSP update
o Plan Workshop (July 17, 2018) – The objective of the workshop was to solicit community feedback on the general plan vision, desired land uses, and urban form for the area. More than 30 participants consisting of community members, business owners, and developers provided feedback on the future of the East Colorado Specific Plan, sharing their experiences living, working, and/or visiting the area, as well providing feedback on specific facilitated topics such as housing types, streetscape and public amenities, mobility, and parking. Workshop materials and summary of community feedback can be found on the program’s website, https://www.ourpasadena.org/East-Colorado-Round1-Materials
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 2 City Council February 28, 2022
o Pasadena City College Pop-Up Event (September 6, 2018) – City staff set-up project materials for the East Colorado Specific Plan update at the Pasadena City College (PCC) campus. The event utilized large boards summarizing the update program, important project components, and boundaries of the plan area.
Participants provided their input through an interactive engagement activity that asked them to think about what they would like to see more of in the PCC neighborhood. Students, faculty, and others wrote ideas on tags and identified specific locations on large maps with cards depicting desired uses. The City booth received approximately 55-65 visitors.
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 3 City Council February 28, 2022
o Community Walking Tour (October 20, 2018) –Approximately 45 participants took part in a community walking tour of the plan area. The virtual tour helped gather participants’ observations and experiences in a portion of the East Colorado Specific Plan area. Participants were asked about their pedestrian experience, opportunities to improve the walking environment, and what types of uses should be introduced, preserved, or removed. The tour started at the lawn in front of Pasadena City College’s Shatford Library and ended at Rosebud Coffee. Participants wrote comments on walking tour worksheets/guides as they walked east along Colorado Boulevard. At the end of the tour, participants identified specific locations on large marks with image cards depicting desired uses. . Materials of the walking tour and summary of community feedback can be found on the program’s website, https://www.ourpasadena.org/EC-Walking-Tour- Summary.
o Plan Workshop (January 31, 2019) – The objective of the workshop was to solicit community feedback on emerging themes, refined plan vision, and preliminary land uses, urban form concepts, and development standards. Approximately 30 participants attended, sharing feedback through an opening icebreaker activity, small group discussions, and larger group report back session. Materials and summary of community feedback can be found on the program’s website, https://www.ourpasadena.org/East-Colorado-Round2-Materials .
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 4 City Council February 28, 2022
o Youth Summit (October 19, 2019) - Through the use of multimedia tools and interactive activities including a virtual reality station, large floor map activity, and video, the youth summit was designed to educate students about city planning and allow participants to share their unique perspective on what they think will make Pasadena a better place now and in the future. The summit format was designed to inform participants about the eight Specific Plan updates, including East Colorado, and illustrate the types of development and improvements being discussed. Over 30 high school students and 8 youth ambassadors attended the summit. Participants were encouraged to provide input through an interactive mapping activity and storytelling station where they could record their stories and experiences on video.
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 5 City Council February 28, 2022
o Virtual Open House (June 2020 through March 2021) – The objective of the open house was to solicit community feedback on the refined plan vision and preliminary draft development, design, and public realm standards and guidelines. Through an introductory presentation and a series of informational boards, participants were able to navigate the virtual room and review the materials and provide feedback during the pandemic. A total of 2,667 users engaged with the Virtual Open House website. Materials can be found on the program’s website, https://ourpasadena.consultation.ai/eastcolorado/.
o Live Webinar (August 13, 2020) – As part of the Round 3 outreach, a live webinar was held where participants could learn about the ECSP update and have questions answered live by staff in a Q&A format. Approximately 73 participants joined the webinar, discussing issues such as increasing the amount of green/open space, historic preservation of existing buildings, development standards such as façade modulation, and safety enhancements such as improved lighting, fence requirements, and bike lanes. Presentation can be found on the program’s website, https://vimeo.com/448609172
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Participants shared a wide range of input throughout the outreach process, which is summarized in the following recurring themes:
• Maintain small businesses to serve the neighborhood;
• Accommodate student-oriented businesses near Pasadena City College and Caltech; • Support housing affordability through larger unit sizes that allow students to share housing costs;
• Ensure ground floor entryways are accessible from the street; • Improve building facades and design;
• Increase sidewalk widths and amenities, like outdoor dining, sidewalk furniture and parkways;
• Design open space to break up big, unbroken walls;
• Enhance shade and trees;
• Support mobility enhancements and encourage alternative modes to driving;
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 6 City Council February 28, 2022
• Maintain context-sensitive building height and densities while accommodating development that meets the community’s housing needs; and • Create appropriately-scaled transitions between larger development and surrounding residential areas.
Additional meetings were held to solicit feedback from the Design Commission, as follows:
• Design Commission (October 27, 2020) – The Design Commission held an information item on the ECSP update to review and provide feedback on the refined plan vision and preliminary development, design, and public realm standards that were presented during the Round 3 outreach. The Design Commission provided the following feedback:
o Interest in increasing height maximums in Mid-City;
o Desire to see more flexibility in standards, such as façade regulations; o Mixed opinion on allowing residential uses on ground floor along north-south streets with an expanded sidewalk given commercial potential; and o Interest in seeing companion mobility improvements, such as one-way couplets on north-south streets and bicycle boulevards.
• Planning Commission Study Session (August 25, 2021) – The study session focused on the update to the ECSP, including plan boundary, vision, goals, policies, standards, and guidelines to regulate future development, as well as background information on the East Colorado Specific Plan area and the planning and community engagement process that informed the preparation of the draft plan. The staff report and presentation can be found on the program’s website, https://www.ourpasadena.org/ECSP-PC-SS-082521 .
The Planning Commission received public comments, discussed the draft plan, and provided feedback to staff. A summary of the comments and feedback received is provided below:
o Public comments focused on the following:
Concern about drive-through uses but support walk-up window uses; Encourage more flexible open space and setback standards for R&D uses ; and
Explore more requirements for ADA-accessible units to support larger units that provide more amenities for persons with disabilities. o Commissioner comments included the following, organized by topic. Outreach – Some questions and concerns about the extent of community outreach;
Relationship to other Specific Plans –Recommendation to add more language in the plan to describe relationship of ECSP to other adjacent specific plans, Central District Specific Plan and Lamanda Park Specific Plan. This should also include any historic preservation policies that can be carried over east on Green Street to connect proposed concept and uses for the corridor;
Development Standards (Height & Density) –Request to include additional information on potential height and density of future development based on density bonus provisions;
East Colorado Specific Plan Update
Attachment C: Community Engagement and Public Feedback Page 7 City Council February 28, 2022
Development Standards (R&D Facilities) –Discussion on reassessing requirements for office/R&D uses to support these types of businesses and provide some flexibility in development;
Development Standards (Drive-Through Uses) –Expressed the desire to not allowing new drive-through businesses in the specific plan area since these uses do not support a pedestrian-friendly environment. Some support for allowing walk-up windows;
Public Realm Standards (Open Space) – Discussion on revising the term “public open space” to “publicly accessible open space” in order to clarify and be more specific about this type of open space;
Public Realm Standards (Paseos) – Support for paseos but there was further discussion and questions about implementation of the standard.
Some concerns include: cost for developers; how to implement with piecemeal development or on a parcel by parcel basis; and questions about whether streets will be close to vehicular traffic; and Public Realm Standards (Street Trees) – Discussion on double-row (allee) versus single-row of trees to connect Colorado Boulevard and Green Street. Commissioners did not express a strong preference but did suggest the consideration of other street tree types and accent trees in order to create more shade within a shorter period.
Residents, property owners, and other interested parties were notified of upcoming events, community meetings and hearings via postcard mailers sent to all properties within the current East Colorado Plan Area boundaries as well as within a 500 -foot radius of the boundaries to ensure that the greater community surrounding the East Colorado Specific Plan was notified.
Residents were also informed of upcoming events by signing up for email notifications and by interacting with the OurPasadena webpage and social media. Additionally, information about the Specific Plan Update program was provided through Council District newsletters, flyers sent through the Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena Education Network, and articles in Pasadena Now. Staff also spoke directly with property owners and residents in and around the plan area, and engaged with the Pasadena Youth Ambassador program to bring awareness of the Specific Plan Update and urban planning in general to the City’s youth. In total, approximately 2,800 participants interacted with the program, whether by attending community workshops or walking tours virtually or in person, providing written comments at workshops or via email, providing verbal comments by phone or in person, and by interacting with the OurPasadena webpage and social media.