by Timothy Rutt
The Altadena Town Council agreed Tuesday night to create a committee to look at revising community standards, the regulations that govern businesses and residential planning in Altadena.
And they hope to finish the job within six months.
Council vice-chair Jamie Bissner said that the last time the community-wide standards district had been revised was in the mid-1980’s. One of the outcomes of the recent Altadena community visioning process was that it was felt the current community standards -- including rules of signage, building appearance, and rules against drive-up windows -- were not serving local business.
Current residential standards are also felt to be unrealistic, with tens of thousands of Altadena homes in violation of fence setback requirements, for example.
Bissner said that he hoped that the committee could complete its work and report to the council no later than May, 2013, before the next town council elections.
Changes in community standards would have to be approved by the council and go on to the county for final approval and implementation.
The council agreed to create the committee and approved the appointment of the six applicants for the committee: Ed Meyers (town councilman and Chamber of Commerce board member); Meredith Miller (co-owner of Webster’s Community Pharmacy); Daniel Harlow (Harlow Technologies, and Chamber board member); Mark Goldschmidt (landscape designer and Altadena Heritage chairman); Marge Nichols; and Jim Osterling (adjunct professor at the University of Southern California in real estate finance and development).
