After a 13-hour meeting, Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to approve the outdoor mall to be built on the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot, a development known as The Shops at Santa Anita. Opponents may push a referendum and possibly file lawsuits to block the project.
The Arcadia City Council debated the issue of more parking on the west side of Baldwin Avenue, next to the Hub Center, between Duarte Road and Naomi Avenue. The Council approved the revision to the adult business ordinance, adopted an anti-loitering measure for gang members, and more.
Arcadia City Council has accepted a grant for $42,026 from the MTA in Proposition C funds to help operate Arcadia Transit. Other City Council items were discussed.
Arcadia City Council has approved a new contract with the Pasadena Humane Society (PHS) to provide animal services to Arcadia. The contract is for $69,838, a 3% increase over the current year's agreement. The city has contracted with PHS since 1994. PHS handles dog licensing, answers calls for service and offers low-cost spay and neuter clinics. Other items were approved, including a contract with Engineered Plumbing Inc. for water mains and valves, the purchase of Mobile Data Terminals for the Arcadia Fire Department from Nida Companies, and massage therapist permits.
Arcadia City Council hears public concerns over historic preservation on February 19. In 4-1 vote City Council agreed not to accept the current ordinance as is, but instead to have city staff revise it. Councilman Roger Chandler took some angry digs at local historians such as Carol Libby about the proposed ordinance. Marcello Vavala, of the Los Angeles Conservancy, said the proposed ordinance was fair because it would require consent of the homeowner to officially designate the home a historic entity.
Arcadia City Council is divided over preservation vs. development. Should the city update a 2001 historic preservation survey of buildings and homes in Arcadia? Council members held a lively discussion about merits and costs of preserving Arcadia's historical commercial buildings and homes, designed by renowned architects.
Arcadia City Council recap: crime is rising in Arcadia and countrywide, with offenses predominantly concentrated in property crime. Council approves home designs at 29 East Orange Grove and 1600 Highland Oaks Drive now that their square footage will be reduced in revised designs. Council also unanimously authorized the $2 million purchase of 3000 acre feet of imported replacement water from Main San Gabriel Basin watermaster for the fiscal year 2015-2016.
Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to give the final approval on Rick Caruso's The Shops at Santa Anita mall. The City Council also approved an expansion project for the Westfield mall with one condition.
The Arcadia City Council will decide on an ordinance to regulate massage therapy. Provisions will regulate massage therapists, practitioners or technicians, and require them to have identification cards from the police and a business license. The ordinance contains other restrictions.
Arcadia considers joining Monrovia in reviving the Blue Star Program, in which families of men and women in the armed forces can display a symbol of that fact on their home. The matter will be put on a city council agenda in the future.
Arcadia Public Library will have a new conference room constructed and will remodel the existing room into offices and a work area. An office will be created for the Friends of the Library. This is the first phase and the contract was awarded to K & S Design for $106,500. Phase 2 of the project, to be completed at a later date, will include a teen center and an enlarged international language area.
Arcadia resident and business owner Fawaz Elmasri, who was born in Lebanon, conveyed a message that Muslim people are peaceful and the Islam religion condemns killing of civilian people and the destruction of property. He explained that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were acts against God.
Arcadia would lose $1.2 million in revenue during the next two years under a California State budget plan proposed by Governnor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, a dog park at Eisenhower Park would open.
City council members refute charges that they met in private with a developer and property owner. Arcadia councilman Bob Harbicht said council did not meet in closed sessions, but met only with city staff to discuss land located in the parking lot of Santa Anita Park. The Council has never met privately with Caruso Affiliated or Magna Entertainment.
The City Council voted against a proposed 6-unit development of condominiums on First Avenue. This caused some conflict as applicant Hank Jong had received approval for the project until a second check showed the zoning he was relying on conflicted with the general plan.
The City Council will likely approve Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita's mall expansion for the outdoor section known as The Promenade if Westfield can resolve parking issues that will arise during construction.