The Prose of Preservation

On January 13, the City of Alhambra hosted the second General Plan Community Meeting at the Civic Center Library. Approximately 100 Alhambrans attended the workshop. The presentation given by the city’s consultant included information about the surveys that were collected this past summer and recommendations for Alhambra’s future. Here are a few of the evening’s highlights:

– Consultants conducted 400 random phone surveys from June 25 – July 9, 2015 with respondents prioritizing the enhancement of existing city services, the protection of the city’s character/quality of life and ensuring the health of the city’s economy and job market.

– Consultants collected 360 written surveys with 13% of respondents wanting to preserve historic homes and buildings, 13% of respondents expressing an interest in protecting open space/parks and trees and 9% of respondents interested in preserving the small-town community atmosphere.

– High priorities identified from the written surveys included the improvement of traffic flow (58%), the preservation of historic areas and buildings (52%) and the improvement of the maintenance of city streets (50%).

– Concerns expressed by respondents included the opinion that there is too much development in Alhambra. Sixty-six percent of respondents felt that there were too many condominiums, 60% expressed that there were too many apartments, and 58% said that there was too much mixed-use housing.

– Other ideas presented included the identification and enhancement of gateways entering Alhambra, linking neighboring community bike connectors into Alhambra, and the maintenance of Alhambra’s core industrial area while transitioning select industrial areas to commercial mixed use.

– One idea that generated a lot of interest was the creation of a linear park over the current railroad trench, which runs parallel to Mission Road.

The January 13 community workshop presentation can be viewed here. The results of the community survey can be found here.

After the presentation, participants rotated through three stations – (1) Land Use & Economic Development, (2) Community Design & Character and (3) Mobility, providing additional input on elements/issues that need to be prioritized or were missing. The consultant team encouraged residents to e-mail comments or concerns to generalplan@cityofalhambra.org.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of people who submitted a written survey last summer stated that the preservation of historic areas and buildings should be a priority for the City of Alhambra. The commitment and dedication of APG’s members last summer to filling out and submitting the written surveys and taking the online survey paid off! The next step in this process is the writing and release of the draft General Plan, which should take place in late Spring. After the release of the draft General Plan, there will be a required 45-day public review period.

Yes, it may seem like we are inching our way toward a historic preservation ordinance, but that’s how change happens – one step at a time. APG is committed to advocating for the adoption of a historic preservation ordinance. The more Alhambrans who join us, the faster we’ll get to our goal of Alhambra adopting legislation that will protect and preserve our city’s architecturally significant homes and buildings.

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