Council Is Dark on Monday, Fuller Master Plan Amendment Scheduled For First Meeting Of 2025

Council will be dark for several weeks in honor of the holidays.

In total, there will be no meetings for the next three weeks.

The City Council will next convene on January 13.

That meeting will be held at the Robinson Recreation Center due to cabling improvements in the Council Chambers.

The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the Fuller Master Plan Amendment.

The amendment would revise the Master Plan’s document text and boundaries to only include 15 “core” properties owned by Fuller.

A property at 261 N. Madison Avenue would be subdivided into two parcels.

In addition, 14 “non-core” properties owned by Fuller would be subject to the Master Plan until sold or leased for non-Fuller purposes. No development is proposed as part of the amendment.

The proposed amendment aims to adapt the seminary’s physical presence to match declining on-campus enrollment from 2,000 to 500 and a shift toward online education.

Established in 1947, Fuller has grown to become the largest multidenominational seminary in the world, with campuses in Pasadena, Phoenix, and Houston. The institution currently serves over 2,800 students worldwide across 16 degree programs.

In 2018, officials at the seminary announced plans to sell off the 13-acre campus and move to Pomona due to the high costs of remaining in Pasadena that they said would limit the ability to reach potential students.

That move was later called off, although the land was purchased.

The amendment designates 15 “core” properties to be retained for school-related facilities and 14 “non-core” properties that would continue to be subject to the Master Plan until they are no longer needed for Fuller campus purposes and are sold or leased to non-Fuller entities.

Key elements of the plan include maintaining the historic buildings along Oakland Avenue and affordable housing for students, staff, and faculty; preserving Chang Commons as the center of campus housing; keeping the prayer garden, chapel, psychology programs, counseling clinic, and library; canceling a 2006 development agreement; subdividing a parcel at 261 N. Madison Ave.; changing zoning designations for one newly created lot; and extending the Master Plan timeline to 2046.