Station Square Open House: July 30, 2014

You're invited to the Station Square Open House next Wednesday, July 30th at the Monrovia Public Library (321 S. Myrtle Ave.).  Representatives will be on hand from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to answer any questions you have about the area around the future Gold Line stop.  Don't have any burning questions to ask?  Feel free to swing by anyway to take a look at some photo renderings and listen to updates about the project. 

Don't forget to check out the City's Station Square webpage for the latest information.

Would you like a free pizza?

Blaze Pizza opens this weekend in Foothill Park Plaza, specifically, at 108 W. Foothill Boulevard.  Follow Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and grab yourself a free pizza from 11:00 a.m. to midnight.  However, the offer is good only this Saturday (7/26/2014).  

Casually referred to as “the Chipotle or Subway of pizza” Blaze is one of more than a half a dozen food chains using the new trend of assembly line style of custom ordering.  The pizzas are baked in hot ovens for only a few minutes, offering fast, customized pizzas that you may...or may not want to share.  Check out their website for more information.

So what does this all have to do with the Community Development Department?  Well, other then the fact that we do love our food...several divisions and boards were involved in the opening.  The Planning Division worked with the property manager and business owner to get the process going, then coordinated with the state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC).  Next, the Planning Commission approved Blaze Pizza's conditional use permit to serve beer and wine, the Development Review Committee (DRC) approved their sign, and just today, the Business License Section issued Blaze Pizza's...what else, their business license.  And finally, the Building Division reviewed, approved and inspected their construction.

Bon appetit!

We're back with some exciting news

Where did two months go?  Sometimes life (and work) just get in the way (but we're happy to have both!).

So if you are still with us, our loyal reader, we'll get back on track with a DRC update...

The Development Review Committee (DRC) celebrated its first meeting of summer on Wednesday, June 25 with a light agenda.  Most of the items were fairly standard and included a couple of residential remodels, review of a large family day care, a temporary use and a new sign for Blaze Pizza in the Foothill Park Plaza.  

(The answer to the question is soon...very soon.)

What wasn’t business as usual was DRC’s review of a new building for the BMW dealership.  This will replace their existing facility at 1425 South Mountain Avenue.  The proposed building will hold their entire operation in a 208,783 square foot, three story structure and will house the showroom, offices, service and lots and lots of storage for their inventory.

Over the past few years, Monrovia’s auto dealers have been remodeling their showrooms.  Infiniti is currently under construction.  BMW is the final dealership to update their facilities and in our opinion, it was worth the wait.  The proposed building has a modern look with lots of glass and steel…very contemporary…very BMW.

Although, the City’s Staff has been working with the applicant for several months, one of the primary purposes of DRC is to provide a consolidated review by the directors of each of the City’s departments involved in the construction and ultimately the operation of businesses in Monrovia.  The outcome of the meeting is a formal recommendation to the Planning Commission who ultimately has the authority to approve the project.

At the end of the review, DRC voted to recommend approval to the Planning Commission.  We expect that the Planning Commission will review the request at their meeting on August 13.

Couldn't have timed it better if we tried

You may recall, a couple of weeks ago we told you that the Historic Preservation Commission considered an application for historic landmark designation for the house 227 North Ivy Avenue. 

Don't remember?  Read about it here.

Well, now we are here to report--it's official!  On May 6, 2014, the City Council unanimously designated this property as Historic Landmark No. 130.  You can read the staff report here.

This followed an action earlier in the evening when the Council proclaimed the month of May as Historic Preservation Month which coincides with National and California Historic Preservation Months.

And speaking of preservation month, don't forget that Sunday, May 11 is the 32nd annual Mother's Day Home Tour put on by our friends at the Monrovia Historic Preservation Group.

We're still marveling at the serendipitous way this all worked out.

Thirty-seven Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty-two

For some May Day is the celebration of spring; others mark it as a reminder of the rights of laborers.  But whether you commemorate May 1 with a maypole, a march or a lei (as they do in Hawai’i), here in California it’s the known as the day that the California Department of Finance, affectionately known as DOF, releases the E-1 report.  Wahoo!

Hmmm…do we sense a less than enthusiastic response? 

The E-1 report is titled “Population and Housing Estimates for Cities, Counties, and the State” which has the population and housing estimates for cities…uh, well the title is self-explanatory.  

The report provides the estimated population for each jurisdiction in California as of January 1 of the current year.  Why is this important?  Well for so many reasons.  Don't worry, we'll only get into one and that is that many of the various revenue streams that local jurisdictions receive are based on population. Specifically, these projections.

So without getting too deep into the minutia, we’ll cut to the chase and get to the point of this post.

Monrovia’s estimated population as of January 1, 2014 is 37,162.  This represents a 0.53% increase over the 2013 estimate.

If you are a demographic geek like us, you can read all about it here.

  

Spoiler Alert:  Los Angeles is still the most populous city in California.

DRC Update - April 30, 2014

On Wednesday April 30, 2014 the Development Review Committee (DRC) reviewed the following requests:

•  Signs
• 935 E. Huntington Dr. (Fast5Express Car Wash): minor exception to allow a second wall sign on the Huntington Drive elevation and review of one directional sign and new location for previously approved monument sign (Approved) 
• 111 W. Foothill Blvd. (Better Home Energy): new wall sign (Approved)
• 107 N. Myrtle Ave. (Velocipedist Bicycle Company): new sign (Approved)
• 130 W. Foothill Blvd (Pavilions): face change on pylon and monument sign (Approved)
• 140 W. Foothill Blvd. (Starbucks Coffee): face change on pylon sign (Approved)
• 120 W. Foothill Blvd. (Starlight Express): face change on pylon sign (Approved)

• Design Review
• 1963 S. Myrtle Ave.: design review  of a modification to an existing rooftop wireless facility (Approved)
• 429 W. Duarte Rd.: design review to construct roof structures over six balconies (Approved)

• Advisory Review 
• 721 W. Duarte Rd.: seven townhome condominiums over subterranean garages and a variance request for a reduction in private recreation space (Recommended Approval to the Planning Commission)

Coming soon! 

Join us as we begin following the seven townhome condominium project at 721 W. Duarte Road from planning to completion.  We think it’ll be fun showing you how a project goes from a concept on paper to a built structure.  Stay tuned!

721 W. Duarte Road

Behind the Scenes Video: Monrovia Gold Line Station Artwork

Take a behind the scenes look at the future Monrovia Gold Line Station artwork with the site's artist Cha-Rie Tang.  Ms. Tang's use of nature and Batchelder inspired tile will be another reason to visit Monrovia.