Tim Schwehr, City of Arcadia's Economic Development Analyst, highlights Downtown Arcadia's new Business-Friendly Zoning Code, adopted November 2016 as part of a comprehensive citywide zoning update, with the goal of bringing more mixed use development to the area and incentivizing adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
Arcadia City Council voted 4-to-0 to pass a new food hall plan for Downtown Arcadia at 33 West Huntington Drive. The food hall will contain seven to eight different food vendors of a pre-existing building, while the upper floors will continue to operate as self-storage units. One of the project goals is to preserve the existing building and keep the midcentury look of it, according to City of Arcadia Senior Economic Development Analyst Tim Schwehr.
Arcadia City Council announces goals for future. In addition to budget deficit, "community building" with the city's Asian population, to be primary focus.
Arcadia City Council approves $30,000 for officials' trip to China and Taiwan. The purpose is to foster a better understanding of Asian culture in order to better serve Arcadia, which is heavily populated by residents from China and Taiwan. Establishing sister city relationships with Chinese and Taiwanese municipalities is another goal of the trip. See VF Sister City.
Arcadia City Council Recap: Council ends tutor feud and moves future elections. Arcadia Police Chief Robert Guthrie was honored for his exemplary performance, two Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade princesses from Arcadia, Lauren Buehner and Sidney Grace Pickering, were recognized, and Arcadia man Roshan Akula (pictured) announced his campaign to run for U.S. House of Representatives.
Arcadia City Council made three appointments to the Downtown Arcadia Improvement Association (AIA) board of directors. They are Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager and Development Services Director, Tim Schwehr, the city's Economic Development Analyst, and Peter Amundson, City Council member.
Arcadia Police Department has a new police chief. His name is Bob Guthrie and has been serving as interim police chief since Bob Sanderson retired in April. He joined the Arcadia Police Department as a cadet in 1989.
Arcadia aims to upgrade city library. The library is getting community feedback at a community needs assessment forum tonight and has hired an outside party to create a survey written in three languages. The goal is to determine what barriers they need to overcome to bring more people to the library and which programs and services need improvement, particularly in the technology sector.
Arcadia Circa 2020. Economic Development Analyst Tim Schwehr (photo) will present a commercial development preview of City of Arcadia circa 2020 at the Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Forum.
Tonight Arcadia City Council will decide on whether the city should pursue an economic impact study before adopting new residential zoning regulations. The zoning code recommendations are concerned with floor area ratios (FAR) in 4 different parts of the city, building height, setback and hillside standards.
Ugly side of politics--a letter naming Arcadia city councilman Sho Tay claims Arcadia property value will fall 30 percent because of the new zoning recommendations that City Council is considering. Sho Tay denies the letter came from him.
Experts question donations for travel. Delegation from Arcadia City Hall given $30,000 from two Chinese firms and one local developer for trip to Asia, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in China and Taipei, Taiwan. Government and ethics experts say the cash donations to the City of Arcadia for this trip raises concerns about transparency and influence. The trips are designed study sister city relationships, learn about the culture and talk to Chinese and Taiwanese officials. Those traveling include Mayor John Wuo and his wife, Council Sho Tay and wife, Councilman Tom Beck, City Attorney Stephen Deitsch, City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto, Fire Chief Kurt Norwood, Recreation Director Sara Somogyi, Public Works Director Tom Tait, and George and Sandy Wuo, who are relatives of the mayor. See VF Sister City.
Unanimous Arcadia City Council acts to place local funding measure, known as the “Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure” on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other city services. City staff and the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee have indicated Arcadia has a multi-million dollar structural deficit.
Results are in from yesterday's city council elections for the City of Arcadia and the City of Sierra Madre. In Arcadia, the semi-official results show the three seats will be filled by Bob Harbicht, Mark "Mickey" Segal, and Peter Amundson. Sierra Madre voted in Joe Mosca, Josh Moran and Nancy Walsh (uncertified totals).