Accessible Housing Guide on Commission Agenda Today

Editor’s. Note: this article incorrectly identified the date of this meeting which actually occurred last month. We apologize for this error.

The Accessibility and Disability Commission is scheduled to discuss and vote Tuesday on a plan to formally present its completed Accessible Housing Guide to the City Council and the broader Pasadena community, a step that would cap months of work by the commission’s infrastructure and accessibility ad hoc committee.

The Accessible Housing Guide is a resource document intended to help community members and local housing partners navigate accessibility considerations in Pasadena housing. Because the Accessibility and Disability Commission is strictly advisory, its vote Tuesday would recommend, not authorize, the rollout — the City Council retains final authority over how and when the guide is formally adopted or distributed through city channels.

According to the commission’s Fiscal Year 2025-2026 work plan, approved Feb. 24, the guide was reviewed and approved by the commission in August and Commissioner Andrea Jennings announced in January that the guide had been completed. The work plan records that Jennings has proposed holding a town hall similar to a previous commission housing town hall to publicly present the guide, invite community members, and feature individuals with various disabilities sharing lived experiences related to housing accessibility.

The commission’s Ad Hoc Committee on Infrastructure and Accessibility Improvements — co-led by Commissioner Liz Schiller and Jennings, with Chair Casey Jagusch — has driven the effort. The work plan notes that the committee shared a draft version of the guide with the Foothill Catalog, which according to the work plan may be building two model homes in Altadena, and that Jagusch recently met with Beth Kovsky about next steps, including presenting the guide to the Pasadena Planning Department.

If the commission approves the rollout plan, the guide would be routed as a recommendation to the City Council, which would decide whether and how to formally endorse or distribute it. The item could also include a presentation at the Triumph Foundation’s Adaptive Sports Festival, an event previously identified by commissioners as a venue for housing-related outreach, according to the commission’s special events calendar and February meeting minutes.

The vote is one of several housing-adjacent items on Tuesday’s agenda. Commissioners are also scheduled to consider formal comments to the Planning Commission on accessibility upgrades to the city’s Accessory Dwelling Unit standard plans — a related advisory recommendation that, if adopted, would similarly go to the City Council for any binding action.

The Accessibility and Disability Commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, at 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/.