In a unique turn, the Glendora City Council will discuss and vote on whether to halt all mixed-use projects along the Route 66 Corridor Until next year.
The urgency ordinance would be considered for any future mixed-use development within the corridor and would extend an already established 45-day moratorium, passed on September 22, to last until September 22, 2016.
It is the City’s goal to study and eventually adopt comprehensive amendments to development standards for the Route 66 Specific Plan in order to protect public health, safety, welfare, the market values, aesthetic and visual qualities of the Route 66 Corridor, City Staff said.
If adopted, the moratorium would halt the issuance of additional mixed-use subdivisions, use permits, variances and building permits, City Staff said.
According to city documents, “there is a current and immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare, and that the approval of additional mixed use residential subdivisions, use permits, variances, building permits, or any other applicable entitlement … would result in that threat.”
City Staff expects small revisions for some of the Specific Plan, while other areas may receive a comprehensive overhaul, specifically the Town Center Mixed-Use subdistrict.
Read the Universal Recommendations for Update
A series of special reviews was held by the Glendora Planning Commission since April to reexamine the Route 66 Specific Plan, a land-use document specifying zoning requirements for the eight subdistricts along Route 66.
In a nutshell, the Specific Plan, a 10-year-old document, calls for the building of homes and mixed-use development to increase the daytime population, attract families and professional jobs to bring new businesses to the area.
Officials have been reexamining the Specific Plan to determine if it still is relevant to the community after much public protest.
The Specific Plan encourages a mixed-use component with residential development in all but one of the eight subdistricts.
For example, The Gables on 66 project, which razed a mobile home park, a 20-unit apartment complex and five homes, will feature 106 townhomes and 2,000 square feet of retail space.
In past Planning Commission meetings, Staff reports expressed that 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 developer of a proposed condominium project on Vermont and Carroll avenues near the Glendora Village initially desired eliminating the mixed-use component for the project, but the Planning Commission disagreed. The Glendora City Council eventually voted 5-0 on September 22 to continue discussion on the project by Watt Communities, LLC, to a future date.
Developers and property owners could still build mixed use projects under certain requirements.
Waivers to the moratorium could be granted to developers after a public hearing is held if any proposed projects do not interfere with the City’s study of development and the adoption of amendments to the Specific Plan.
Property owners would also maintain vested rights to build mixed-use projects under certain conditions.
Read the Emergency Ordinance in its entirety here.
The City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 116 E. Foothill Blvd.
