GUEST OPINION
An adapted screengrab by the author from EPA presentation, Jan. 11 (agenda item 3)
The Alhambra City Council started deliberating on “The Villages” on Jan. 11, 2021, and subsequently called a special meeting for January 27.
By Melissa Michelson
Any person can send in comments to be read aloud into the record by a city staffer, or can log on to Zoom and speak to the five councilmembers before they deliberate and vote on the development.
How to prepare for January 27 City Council meeting on “The Villages”
First, take a look at last Monday’s half-hour presentation from developers. You’ll notice their traffic and environmental consultants whizzing past the concerns that hundreds of community members shared last year at Alhambra’s Planning Commission. Those traffic and concerns ultimately led the Commission to pass a resolution rejecting “The Villages.” The increased traffic, its contaminated Superfund location, and the lack of affordable housing were some of the more egregious concerns. So far, over 550 people have signed a moratorium petition against this development.
The proposed 839-unit luxury condo and apartment development (down from 1,061) would be located at Fremont and Mission, where San Gabriel Valley commuters often get stuck in an extra ten minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic to travel four blocks as they inch south toward the 10 and 710 freeways. The development would not be in the yet-to-be-developed 13-acre vacant lot visible from Fremont, but rather across the street behind The Alhambra complex.
According to the developers, the new residents living in this development will add about 6,600-7,752 individual car rides to the streets. The ‘phased in’ ten-to-twenty-year construction will also bring an influx of slow-moving construction vehicles to the traffic.
Another major concern has been soil contamination. Earlier in Monday’s meeting during Agenda #3, an Environmental Protection Agency rep shared how more testing needs to be done and that the appropriate regulatory agency, the developer and city need to coordinate to prepare the site so that buyers of the dwellings are safe.
This 5-story multi-building mega-development will bring “significant and un-mitigatable impacts“ to traffic and the environment, according to the Environmental Impact Report.
Housing for the well-off and for foreign investors
The developer’s speakers claim that “working class people” could live at “The Villages.” Comparable two-bedroom condos in construction nine blocks away are on the market for $788,000, and Alhambra’s new-construction rentals go for $2100 – for a studio!
There’s a difference between providing much needed ‘housing’ to the area and providing housing that average residents can afford. The Ratkovich Company and Elite International Investment’s proposal is for 84 of the 839 units to be set aside for ‘moderate income’ residents, aiming at the $62,000 – $92,000/year income level.
This dense luxury, condo and apartment complex is designed for financial gain of the industry, not to help the community of Alhambra or the San Gabriel Valley.
To be continued…
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Discussion of “The Villages” will be continued at a special meeting on January 27. Check the city’s website for instructions on how to log on. Whether you live in Alhambra or use Alhambra’s streets to reach your destination, you can email your public comments to lmyles@cityofalhambra.org before January 27, 2021:
- “The Villages” (Item #20) starts around 2:30:00 mark.
- The EPA presentation about Superfund Site Area 3 (Item #3) starts around 35:44 mark
- Click for Sample public comments.
Melissa Michelson is a resident of Alhambra and member of two groups that oppose this development: The Emery Park Community Group and Coalition for Equitable Development at The Villages.
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