Pasadena Adopts Most of the 710 Stub Vision Plan
On Monday, Pasadena City Council voted unanimously to approve the majority of staff recommendations for Reconnecting Pasadena, the 710 Stub’s vision plan. Thus, what began as a two part discussion now becomes at least a three parter.
For quick background, Reconnecting Pasadena is a guiding document for the city’s redevelopment of a 50-acre swath of land that was seized in the early 1970’s by Caltrans to complete the 710 Freeway from El Sereno to Pasadena. This part of the Freeway project displaced hundreds of residents, mostly black, but was never actually completed and was finally killed in 2017. What was left behind was a large dirt pit, called the 710 Stub. Read more of SBLA’s coverage of that history.
What the council approved this week was:
- a CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) exemption for the plan
- the plan’s use by the Planning Department
- study for financing mechanisms
- sustainability components
- the creation of a governance structure for the Stub
- a housing goal of 1,800 units
- multimodal transportation initiatives
- relocation of a stormwater facility
- and the creation of more partnerships (public/private/non-profit) as the plan moves forward
What was temporarily tabled for a longer discussion were the very broad Restorative Justice elements of the plan (which include a host of programs for building wealth and paying back displaced residents). Likely, the city wants to explore funding mechanisms and set expectations through public debate before committing to any language in the plan.
Also, language was changed to work with residents as well as Caltrans on reconfiguring connections and wayfinding between the 210, 110, and 710 in order to reduce through traffic.
Of course, Pasadena has a long way to go from adopting this vision plan to implementing a specific plan, and there was some concern about leaving the Restorative Justice elements up in the air.
Public commenter Blair Miller said, “I understand that you want to ensure that the restorative justice elements are given a full public hearing. I am concerned that by pulling them out of this discussion, we treat them as separate from the redevelopment of the Stub.”
The council, for their part, seemed worried about this too before they voted to “bifurcate” the discussion. But there was also a sense of wanting to get going with the vision plan’s adoption, after four years in development.
Mayor Victor Gordo, though, asserted that this is going to take as long as it takes.
“There are no do overs,” Gordo said. “Once we put something in place, it will be there for generations to come.”
Gordo recalled the fiasco of the Pasadena Plaza’s rebuild in 1999, which replaced “beautiful old buildings” with a “grand development.” He seemed hesitant to rush ahead with the Restorative Justice elements without a focused discussion on them with residents.
“This is not a project,” Gordo said. “This is the restitching of a community.”
Though Councilmember Steve Madison agreed that the Restorative Justice elements are crucial, he wanted the city to get a handle on publicly redeveloping the Stub.
“We have found it difficult as a city to embrace the perspective of owner, not merely regulator,” Madison said. “Have we asked, you know, three prominent national real estate developers, what would you do with this 50 acres?”
“They would start with, ‘Here’s how I’m going to realize value and community benefit from this tremendous asset.’ And I don’t think we’ve done that yet,” Madison continued.
Acting City Manager Matt Hawkesworth responded that the land itself isn’t quite ready to be developed.
“There’s no general plan designation,” Hawkesworth said regarding land use. “It’s a blank piece of land. And so regardless of what we do, we’ve got to put it through the planning process. We’ve got to do some CEQA work and environmental work and things like that.”
Mayor Gordo concurred, “I’d love to put a shovel in the ground in the next year, if not sooner, but I think it would leave out the community planning process that has allowed us to curate a beautiful city over decades.”
The council appeared a little peaked, wondering how much time on the dais this all could take as things continue to move along. Several members inquired to staff about how a dedicated governance board for the Stub might look.
The Stub’s Senior Project Manager, Wendy Macias, told council that staff is “compiling relevant governance models, including the Presidio in San Francisco, Denver Union Station, Battery Park City [in New York City], and the Seattle Waterfront,” and said a report is forthcoming.
The city’s next Reconnecting Pasadena workshop on the Restorative Justice elements has not been announced yet.
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