Guest Opinion | Ronnie Po: Affordable Housing Is Necessary, but Fairness and Rules Matter

Attempting to address the need for affordable housing, our state legislators have passed laws — enacted by our governor — that require cities and counties to allow the development of large housing projects that can bypass local zoning codes, despite the legitimate concerns of local government officials and residents across the state. Developers and their lobbyists have been very successful at convincing lawmakers to adopt measures that strictly limit what local governments can require of these developments.

The Pasadena Design Commission has been asked to approve one such development at 600 North Rosemead Boulevard at their next meeting on April 14. The developer, Elysian Housing, LLC, has been working with city planners since October to get the project approved on an expedited schedule. A neighbor discovered the project just eight hours before the Design Commission’s first public meeting in February 2026, five months after city officials started working on the project with Elysian.

Why not inform the neighbors when the project was proposed five months earlier? Why not notify the neighbors about the February Design Commission meeting? If that one neighbor had not happened upon the project, when would we have learned about it, and from whom?

Acknowledging these concerns at the February meeting, the commissioners asked Elysian to meet with neighbors about the project. Subsequently, the Lower Hastings Ranch Association, representing the neighborhoods adjacent to the housing project, invited Elysian to meet with our board. Elysian declined our invitation, opting instead to ask District 4 Councilmember Gene Masuda to host an open house introducing the project.

The event did not unfold as expected. The small room at Victory Park was filled to overflowing with angry neighbors demanding that the 132-unit project be downsized. Elysian has refused to downsize the project, citing their financing arrangements.

Recognizing the concerns of his constituents, Councilmember Masuda promised to do what he could to reduce the size of the proposed six-story building. Residents of District 4 remain hopeful that he will be successful.

A public hearing notice — sent only to properties within 500 feet of the development — arrived on April 2 for the April 14 meeting about final approval for the project. The documents that the Design Commission will use to make their decision will not be released to the public until April 10. The public will have just four days to read and consider a trove of documents that city staff and Elysian have been working on for more than six months. This process hardly seems fair.

The Density Bonus Law grants developers of affordable housing the right to construct buildings taller than the local zoning code allows — with NO requirements for parking — but only if the building is within one-half mile of a “major transit stop.”

Elysian claims that the property is within one-half mile of the bus stop on the north side of Foothill Boulevard west of Rosemead Boulevard, and plans to add three stories above the three permitted by the Pasadena Zoning Code. The result will be a six-story building 68 feet high — plus rooftop equipment and structures — in a neighborhood of one, two and three-story buildings bordering single-family homes in Lower Hastings Ranch.

Skeptical neighbors retained a professional surveyor to measure the distance between the bus stop and the project property. Guess what: It’s more than one-half mile. When the neighbors informed city planners, the response was that the distance was within one-half mile by straight-line measurement. It didn’t matter that a resident walking from the project to the bus stop would have to walk more than one-half mile to avoid physical obstacles.

The neighbors replied that the Density Bonus Law specifies “unobstructed access to the major transit stop” and “walkability to transit services.” The definition of “major transit stop” requires that 75% of the project property and 90% of the residential units must be within one-half mile of the stop. The property at 600 N. Rosemead Blvd fails on both counts. City staff have offered no further comment on this topic.

The Density Bonus Law empowers the city council to deny a density bonus if the development does not meet the law’s requirements. District 4 constituents and Lower Hastings Ranch residents are watching closely to see whether City officials are willing to wield their authority to support them over the plans of the developer.

Why should you care? These projects are happening everywhere in our community, and many more are coming. The need for affordable housing is real, but its development should not degrade our quality of life with massive buildings incompatible with our neighborhoods, and with excessive density and the adverse consequences of both.

The state law is onerous, but despite the claims of city officials, they are not powerless to limit the impact on our neighborhoods. It’s time they demonstrate their commitment to their constituents.

Ronnie Po is President of the Lower Hastings Ranch Association