Accessibility and Disability Commission to Hear Overview of Pasadena’s First Environmental Justice Plan

The City of Pasadena Accessibility and Disability Commission is scheduled to receive a presentation on the city’s first Environmental Justice Element when it meets Tuesday, Sept. 22 — an early look at a General Plan effort meant to identify neighborhoods that carry disproportionate environmental burdens and to craft policies addressing them.

The briefing is set to be delivered by Planning Department staff — planners Ani Garibyan and Lillian Mensah and Principal Planner Anita Cerna — and is an information item, meaning no vote is scheduled.

For Pasadena residents, the Environmental Justice Element could influence how the city directs attention to pollution, housing, food access, parks and public services in lower-income neighborhoods for years to come. The Accessibility and Disability Commission is an advisory body, and the presentation would be informational only; the element itself would move through Planning Commission and City Council hearings before adoption, leaving final authority with the City Council.

The element is being prepared to comply with Senate Bill 1000, the state law that requires cities found to contain an environmental justice community to identify those communities and adopt goals, policies and programs addressing disparities across a range of topics. The state defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes and national origins in the development, adoption, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.

The presentation is expected to trace decisions that shaped the city’s current conditions, including racial housing covenants in the early 1900s, mortgage redlining between 1939 and 1968 that covered much of Northwest Pasadena, and the 210 Freeway and a partial State Route 710 — planning decisions that displaced residents and businesses in northwest and central Pasadena. It also outlines the topics such an element covers, among them pollution exposure, healthy and affordable food, active living, safe, sanitary and affordable housing, public facilities and programs, and inclusive and meaningful engagement.

To pinpoint the communities most affected, planners are relying on two state screening tools, CalEnviroScreen and the Healthy Places Index, which combine environmental, socioeconomic and public health data into composite scores for each census tract. A score of 50 is average statewide, and the state treats tracts scoring 75 or higher on CalEnviroScreen as environmental justice communities. A preliminary boundary centered on Northwest Pasadena has been drawn, though staff note it could shift based on community input.

That input is already being gathered. A community survey offered in English and Spanish has drawn roughly 355 responses, which staff are analyzing, and more engagement is planned. Upcoming opportunities include a Neighborhood Walk and Roll at Robinson Park Recreation Center from 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 3, a Community Open House and Resource Fair at the same site at 6 p.m. Oct. 15, and a Virtual Community Meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 21. More about the project is available at bit.ly/PasadenaEJelement.

The Accessibility and Disability Commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, in the Jackie Robinson Community Center, 1020 North Fair Oaks Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.