Highlights of Tuesday's Altadena Town Council meeting:
State of the state: Assemblyman Anthony Portantino delivered his final “state of the state” report to the council, detailing some of the bills he has introduced during his time in office: umbilical cord blood bank, banning open carry of empty weapons, encouraging younger women to get mammograms, and making legislators pay for vanity plates. Portantino also touted the new plan that Southern California Edison must discuss disaster preparedness plans every five years with government agencies (lack of such information was a sticking point during last year’s windstorm blackout). Portantino, who received a standing ovation at the end of his presentation, opted not to run for office this cycle after state assembly and senate district boundaries were redrawn.
Sheriff: Altadena Sheriff Capt. John S. Benedict said there was an overall six percent reduction in property crimes last month, althought there was still a problem with larceny thefts (i.e. vehicle burglaries). Benedict said there was a slight decrease in residential burglaries, and several notable arrests on charges of burglary and receiving stolen property.
Visioning subcommittee: The council agreed to move ahead to form a subcommittee to take information in the Altadena visioning process to update the town’s community standards for residential and commercial buildings. Councilman Jamie Bissner said that the council was looking for people with some professional backgrounds -- such as archtecture and real estate -- that they could bring to bear to update the community standards and put an end to the stream of code violations that are hampering local businesses. Bissner said that they were also looking for representatives from the council, Altadena Heritage, and the Altadena Chamber of Commerce to sit on the subcommittee.
Bissner said that he wanted the committee to develop its plan by six months after formation. After its recommendations have been vetted by the council and submitted to the county, it could take 18 months or more for the new standards to be approved, Bissner said. The last time, in 1986, it took “a couple of years,” Bissner said.
Coffee Gallery Backstage extended hours: The council approved an application by the Coffee Gallery Backstage to extend its hours of operation. The performance venue wanted to extend its hours to 6:30-11 PM, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 PM. The reason for the extended hours was to be available for special events -- for example, sometimes touring musicians performing at the Hollywood Bowl, Greek Theater, or other venue can come in afterward for a small venue show at the Coffee Gallery (Pat Donohue, guitarist for Garrison Keillor’s Prarie Home Companion program, will usually fit in a Coffee Gallery show when he’s in town for a live broadcast). The council also went with a Land Use Committee recommendation that a parking attendent be in place for these special shows to keep people from parking on Morada. The application now gets bumped up to the county Planning Commission.
