[ACT] Hahamongna Annex Guidelines Adopted

[Meb787 at aol.com]

At its March 8, 2010 meeting the Pasadena  City Council approved the final 
version of the Guidelines for staff to use in  implementing the Plan for the 
Hahamongna Annex. The Guidelines were drawn from  the recommendations of 
the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee and  other City Commissions 
and were strongly supported by the community in  attendance at the Council's 
February 1 meeting at which the Annex Plan was  adopted.

At the February 1 meeting, the minutes reflect that the Council  approved 
the Annex Plan and included "the advisory bodies' recommendations, as  
amended." At the March 8 meeting, however, the Guidelines were adopted  
separately, although the Council did clarify that the Guidelines were Plan  
"conditions of approval."

One of the most controversial aspects of the  Plan was the proposed removal 
of 70 non-native trees. The Guidelines now state  that every effort will be 
made to minimize tree removal in the Annex. The  direction given to staff 
is reinforced within the language of the Plan itself  which has been changed 
to state that "every effort shall be made to minimize  native and non-native 
tree removal in the Annex. Any replacement trees required  as a part of an 
Annex project should be of a native species. Any tree removals  shall be 
done only on a per-project basis and only as Annex projects are funded  and 
implemented."

The other very controversial aspect of the plan was the  northern 
"corridor" which began life in the Annex conceptual plan as a 50 foot  wide 
road/greenway to the JPL west parking lot. The Guidelines now specify that  only a 10 
foot wide (maximum) bikeway is to be built along the northern  perimeter of 
the Annex and that it shall be designed in such a way that it "does  not 
lend itself to becoming a road." 

Two of the recommendations relate  to developing a vision and mission as 
well as a management and operation plan  for the future environmental 
education center. Staff recommendations will be  presented to the Hahamongna 
Advisory Committee for review and  comment.

Other recommendations may appear dry and technical but they are  critically 
important to the future of Hahamongna and the Annex. These include  
studying the removal of the Planned Development zoning from a portion of the  
Annex, a study of including Hahamongna within the Arroyo Seco Public Lands  
Ordinance, the review of Conditional Use Permits by the Hahamonga Advisory  
Committee, and a requirement for further project-level environmental review as  
projects are implemented on the Annex.

If you would like to read the  Guidelines in their entirety, go to 
_http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/councilagendas/council_agenda.asp_ 
(http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/councilagendas/council_agenda.asp)   and click on March 8. The 
Guidelines are Item 10 on the Agenda. For more  background information, 
click on the link for the Agenda Report.  If you  are a well-organized and 
dedicated Hahamongna fan, you might want to print a  copy of the Guidelines and 
keep them in a safe place for future reference. 
Mary  B.

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