Public hearing regarding district boundaries slated for August 1. Public is invited to provide input regarding the composition of the districts for district-based elections.
Arcadia City Council approves proposed downtown development zoning changes, specifically regarding downtown Arcadia mixed-use development. Council member April Verlato recused herself from these discussions.
Arcadia City Council announces goals for future. In addition to budget deficit, "community building" with the city's Asian population, to be primary focus.
New Arcadia City Council member April Verlato brings a new voice. She is a lawyer born and raised in Arcadia. She has been an activist against mansions. She is president of Downtown Arcadia Improvement Association (AIA). Her goals for her time in office are 1) to address the uptick in residential burglaries and 2) to improve Arcadia's business districts.
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 member Sho Tay aims to bridge city's cultural gap between Chinese immigrants and Caucasians. Tay says there are three distinct batches of Chinese immigrants. The first came from Taiwan in the 1980s and went to college here. The second came from Hong Kong after Tiananmen Square, and the third, most recent, batch is from mainland China. They came with wealth.
Attempted murder in Arcadia on June 25, 2013 at 1:38 PM. There were shots fired in the area of Lovell Avenue, just south of Duarte Road. The intended shooting victim ducked and was not hit by the gunshots. See also Mountain Views News, p. A6, June 29, 2013.
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 Rotary uneils monument to Veterans at Arcadia Community Center. Funds to build it came from Arcadia Field of Honor (temporary flags at Arcadia County Park) put on by Arcadia Rotary Club, a generous gift from Mary E. Hansen, as well as funds from Santa Anita Park Race Track. The monument consists of seven pillars of granite, each dedicated to the various branches of service: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines.
Arcadia City Council delays vote on Arcadia Highlands home building projects. Council will address the matter again on February 3, to allow for more time to vet newly received petitions from area residents and a detailed letter from an attorney representing a leading opponent of the developments, that the City received last week. Both projects, one at 1600 Highland Oaks Drive, the other at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue, and both designed by Robert Tong of Arcadia-based Sanyao International Inc., involve the demolition of vintage homes to make room for larger residences.
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.
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.
Arcadia Unified School District middle schools First Avenue, Foothills, and Dana, make it to the top 12 of 2018 Niche rankings of public middle schools in the Los Angeles area. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 14, November 2, 2017.
Arcadia City Council approves Arcadia Highlands land development projects at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive. The larger scale new construction of mansions will replace existing homes. The primary bone of contention came down to whether or not property owners' rights to maximize their investment and exercise freedom to build as they see fit should prevail over homeowners associations and residents concerned with maintaining a neighborhood's traditional aesthetic character while protecting neighboring properties' scenic views and privacy.
Arcadia City Council puts restructure of zoning on hold; exempts Highlands from historical preservation due to ongoing lawsuit that Highlands residents filed against City Council. The lawsuit, filed in March by a group called Save the Arcadia Highlands, seeks to force the City Council to rescind its approval of two construction projects that would replace existing mid-20th century homes with significantly larger homes. Council members Tom Beck, Sho Tay, and Mayor Gary Kovacic voted to move forward with establishing historic preservation guidelines and exempt the Highlands HOA territory from the forthcoming ordinance.
Arcadia City Council approves changes to Zoning Code and General Plan. The goal was to update it and bring it up to current development standards. Certain sections were decided on separately, including the single-family development standards, which were updated in April, while short-term rentals and vacant home registry will be considered later. The code was reorganized and now addresses emerging issues such as shopping carts being used outside retail areas and aims to make sure the high quality of development expected is clearly articulated.
Santa Anita Dam sediment project is nearly complete but residents and activists continue to question Los Angeles County's intentions for demolishing the 11-acre Arcadia Woodlands 1.5 years ago. Following the removal of the trees on January 12, 2011, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works has been moving mud and debris from the dam to the middle and lower sediment placement sites by a massive conveyor belt. Moving the dirt makes flood control and water conservation possible for the neighboring populations of Arcadia and Sierra Madre.
Arcadia Seabiscuit Pacifica Project-Phase 2 calls for revised mixed-use project. Arcadia City Council decided on July 3 they want to see more artists' renderings of what Phase 2 will ultimately look like, before going ahead with the $300 million hotel project on the former Santa Anita inn site. The applicant Chateau Group is also requesting to merge the two abutting properties a 100 and 180 West Huntington Drive into the Specific Plan area and change the General Plan Land use Designation from "Commercial with Downtown Overlay" to "Downtown Mixed Use," to revise the General Plan Land Use Map to reflect the changes, rezone the properties from "General Commercial with Downtown Overlay" to "Seabiscuit Pacifica Specific Plan," and include a Height Overlay of H8 on 180 West Huntington Drive to allow a portion of the mixed-use building on that property. The Santa Anita Inn was a 2-story hotel comprised of 6 buildings, 110 rooms, 34,775 s.f., that was originally constructed in 1955 and remodeled in 1985.