After presentations by 3 architectural firms Tuesday night, the Arcadia City Council voted 4-1 to ask one of the companies back for further discussion on doing a master plan for the city's proposed civic center project. The proposed center would probably be located on the Huntington Drive median where the city hall and police station are now located. Mayor David Hannah indicated that this could be a long-term project, perhaps lasting as long as 20 years.
The Arcadia City Council approved a zoning plan to squeeze sex shops into a little corner of the city, but it was over objections of several El Monte residents.
The Arcadia Planning Department has been asked by the City Council to prepare amendments to the municipal code which would limit building bulk and visual intrusion of new commercial buildings adjacent to residentially zoned properties. Various recommendations are discussed.
Arcadia Planning Department recently gave its proposal to Planning Commission for possible ordinance permitting a second unit to be built on a single-family dwelling.
By mid-May 1987 the buildings on the south side of Huntington in the east part of Arcadia should be all gone. 400 days after that, at the latest, there should be a shopping center on the land. By mid-May of 1989, 3 office buildings should join the shopping center according to Arcadia's city manager, Peter Kinnahan.
City Council has approved a zone change for the area bounded by the 210 Freeway, Fifth Avenue, the Santa Fe Tracks and Second Avenue. The area is now CPD (Commercial Planned Development).
Fearing a glut of smut near their schools and churches, 1000 local people, including more than 500 Arcadians, signed a petition against adult business zoning and presented it to the Arcadia City Council.
Following a 2-year study period and moratorium on adult book stores, the Arcadia Planning Commission accepted a text amendment which zones such business to a narrow slip of land in a bit of industrial area in southeast Arcadia known as Chicago Park.
The Planning Commissioners have recommended a change in the city's zoning laws to limit the floor area of new residential structures of 40% of the lot on which they are built.
A proposed ranch house called a "a monstrosity" by one Arcadia neighbor and a "a hay barn" by another will not be built, the Arcadia City Council decided. The 2-story house with a 3-car garage attached was proposed for the lot at 400 Columbia Road.
Public hearings on 2 proposed amendments to the Arcadia municipal code, one that would limit the size of homes, and another that would reduce the density of apartment and condominium units, were continued by the Planning Commission to its November 24 meeting.
Sex shops, theaters and other forms of "adult entertainment" in Arcadia will be limited to industrial zones, according to an ordinance the City Council passed at its January 5 meeting.
A study by the Department of Public Works suggested that the city yards (currently located south of Huntington Drive between 3rd and 5th Avenues) should be split up and moved to the south side of La Porte Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues.