Review of Route 66 Specific Plan Continues

Courtesy photo.

The Glendora Planning Commission will continue examining the Route 66 Specific Plan as it prepares to potentially recommend the city update the more than 10-year-old document.

The special meeting set for June 16 at 7 p.m. will focus on the most hotly debated subdistrict within the whole Specific Plan boundaries: the Town Center Mixed Use subdistrict.

The TCMU subdistrict showcases the Glendora Village Collection near the future Gold Line Station and the three-and-four-story Avalon Bay condominium project.

Town Cente Mixed Use MapThe idea behind the TCMU was to establish guidelines for Transit Oriented Development, incorporating higher density residential projects mixed with various commercial uses and smaller scale retail development.

The idea is to reinforce pedestrian activity and transit use transforming the area to mixed-use, City Staff said.

The standards established in the TCMU reportedly make every other structure in the subdistrict non-conforming, which could cause significant issues for intended repairs or alterations to those existing structures, City Staff said.

The mixed-use component also allows for higher-density projects, but the Planning Commission may also reexamine that approach.

During a May 5 meeting, the Planning Commission began discussing a proposed 40-unit, two-story condominium project near Carroll and Vermont avenues. A zone amendment change was sought to remove the mixed-use requirement for that project, with Staff stating the “mixed use requirement is not sound policy and should be evaluated at a more project-specific level rather than a blanket requirement for all residential development.”

The Planning Commission will continue to discuss the 40-unit project in July.

The June 16 Planning Commission meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers, 116 E. Foothill Blvd.