Arcadia City Council appoints Mickey Segal to fill John Wuo's vacated seat; officials reboot zoning code update, Highlands will be included in the historic architecture survey.
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 clears way for massive new homes at 29 East Orange Grove Avenue and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive, despite opposition to the increasing "mansionization," from several members of the Highland Oaks Homeowners Association (HOA). City Council voted to move forward with both projects, finding they complied with city's zoning codes and were exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The two homes met the city's design guidelines and met the resolution that governs design in the HOA areas.
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 rejected a proposed draft resolution last week that several argued would give city-designated homeowner associations (HOA) too much power. During a study session, the Council discussed amending and consolidating the five HOAs' development standards, design guidelines and design review procedures into one cohesive document. Some argued the draft would give the associations' Architectural Review Boards (ARB)--which have architectural design review authority over the association area--too much control over the size of homes, setbacks and other issues. ARBs should look favorably on someone's dream home plans "unless it was so garish and outlandish that it might negatively affect property values," said Councilman Bob Harbicht. Opposition from Kevin Tomkins and Laurie Thompson.
Arcadia Planning Commission voted to support the Rancho Santa Anita Homeowners Association's Architecture Review Board (ARB) in its decision to reject changes in Ibraham Irawan's home under construction at 821 San Vicente Road.
Architectural drawings and the design for the new Arcadia City Hall have drawn criticism from the City Council. The new City Hall building is estimated to cost $11 million.
A city committee charged with creating design guidelines for residential architecture agreed to split south Arcadia neighborhoods into 2 or 3 areas to create neighborhood review boards for each area.
The City Council voted unanimously to expand design review for single-family homes citywide. It is the latest effort in the fight against boxy mansions being built in Arcadia. The review board thinks Asian families like the big houses and the Asian families say they do want to fit in with the community.
Despite opposition from residents, the Arcadia City Council cleared the way for a property owner to build a 7,730 square feet home on a 27,000 s.f. corner lot on the city's north side, on 1100 block of San Carlos Road. The council's 3-2 vote overturned the Santa Anita Oaks Homeowners Association's Architectural Review Board and the Planning Commision. The owners are Hourig Baghdadlian and her husband.
George Fasching leads campaign to get Denny's to fire up historic Van de Kamp's Dutch windmill. According to Los Angeles Conservancy, the coffee shop was completed in 1967 and designed by Pasadena architects Harold Bissner and Harold Zook.
Gold Line Bridge wins prestigious architectural design recognition from ArchDaily in its Top 100 Projects of the last decade. The "bridge baskets" were designed by artist Andrew Leicester.
A history of the Van de Kamp's windmill atop the Denny's Restaurant currently at the northeast corner of Santa Anita Avenue and Huntington Drive. The Arcadia windmill was built nearly 40 years ago as part of an architectural movement called programmatic architecture, or roadside vernacular, wherein the buildings reflected their tenants. See hard copy in VF "Buildings."
In a unanimous vote, Arcadia City Council deals a blow to builder KVH Design Group, rejecting the developer's appeal and their plans to build a nearly 7,000 square foot two-story single-family house at 211 Monte Place. The Highlands Homeowners Association (HOA) Architectural Review Board (ARB) had turned down the plans on grounds that the proposed home was "incompatible in mass and scale to the surrounding buildings in the neighborhood." Arcadia City Council agreed.
Pasadena Showcase House of Design features the 1937 Federal country-style Locke House in Arcadia. The annual fundraiser is going virtual due to the pandemic lockdown. The house was originally built by Hollywood society architect Gerard Colcord in 1937. For this fundraiser, there were 17 designers who contributed to the renovation. This nonprofit supports music and arts programs in Southern California.
Residents of Santa Anita Village will get a chance to register their opinions on limiting the size of new houses in their area. Homeowners are asking for a 35 percent floor area ratio rule to be in place.
Rod's Grill, in Arcadia since 1956, fights City Hall's eminent domain proceedings. This article gives the history of the restaurant started by Rod Wellman and the history of current owner Romero's battles and City's negotiation efforts.
University of Southern California (USC) teacher Sam Watters' two-volume book "Houses of Los Angeles 1885-1935" features 700 or so photographs of splendid Los Angeles homes. Twenty-two of the seventy-five houses listed come from Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, and La Canada Flintridge.