Pasadena Planning Commission Seeks Larger Role in 710 Freeway Stub Project

The Pasadena Planning Commission is pushing for a more active role in shaping the future of the 710 freeway stub, a project that could transform approximately 50 acres of the city’s urban core.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioners voiced frustration about their limited involvement in what Commissioner Rick Cole called “the most significant planning challenge of our generation.”

The project aims to redevelop land relinquished by Caltrans in June 2022 and transferred to the city in August 2022, which had been intended for the controversial 710 freeway extension.
Commissioners expressed concern about being sidelined in the planning process, which has been underway for two years.

They called for greater involvement and clarity on their role in collaboration with the 16-member Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group appointed by the City Council.

“We should have a formal role,” Cole said, emphasizing the need for the Commission to actively participate in City planning rather than passively observe. Assistant City Manager Brenda Harvey Williams stressed that “the City Council was very concerned as we do enter this phase of the project that the community be integrally involved” and set up a 16 member Reconnecting Communities Advisory Committee that was broadly representative and includes Planning Commissioner Mic Hansen. The Chair of the Advisory Committee, Danny Parker, attended the Commission session, but did not speak.

Jennifer Paige, Pasadena’s Director of Planning & Community Development, assured Commissioners that they would be “fully involved” in the land use recommendations and working on the specific plan.

A key point of concern was the issue of whether the city must continue to accommodate regional traffic through residential neighborhoods, as assumed in the relinquishment agreement with Caltrans.

Cole, who will join the City Council in December, challenged this premise, stating, “We are under no obligation to run up a white flag to Caltrans after having successfully beaten them for 60 years.”

Commissioner Hansen added, “let’s not forget the citizens who stood steadfast against the freeway for decades and worked incredibly hard for us to come to this point.”

Resident Lynn Sullivan representing the West Pasadena Residents Association spoke in support of rerouting the regional traffic that Caltrans directed into the residential neighborhoods of southwest Pasadena.

The Commission also focused on the project’s overall vision, with Cole and others advocating for an approach that prioritizes organic, walkable urbanism over large-scale development projects.

“Let’s do small things that result in great urban fabric that knits together strong neighborhoods that were cut apart by a really bad decision made by Caltrans and the city of Pasadena decades ago,” Cole said.

Commissioner Hansen agreed, emphasizing the importance of “the idea of gradually knitting the broken pieces back together and preserving the integrity of the (adjacent) neighborhoods . . . this is not about creating a new and different architectural statement but about healing our city and healing the gash that was wrought right down the middle of our city.”

Commissioner Dr. Juliana Delgado suggested that “the fundamental question is whether we want this area to be completely integrated into the City as an extension of Old Pasadena that blends into the residential area to the west or do we want it to have its own character and be distinct.”

Commission Chair Carol Hunt-Hernandez commented that “the word that came to mind when talking about reconnecting the city was ‘seamlessly.’ It’s how we reconnect seamlessly. It’s not just putting us back to exactly where we were before, but seamlessly integrating to who we are as a city now.”

Commissioner Steve Olivas raised the question of the site’s topography, given the huge hole dug by Caltrans when the stub was constructed. He asked the consultant team whether they would make a “fundamental recommendation of whether this will be filled, ought to be filled or development is sloped — because that seems to me to be a primary question of how we should go from here.”

Vaughn Davies (of the firm Perkins Eastman) who is leading the design aspect of the project responded, “hopefully we will have some agreement on the approach to that but just to be clear, we’re not going to have one plan, we’re going to have multiple alternatives, hopefully two that would be recommended to the City that would go to the next phase of developing the Specific Plan.”

The project is currently in its initial phase, expected to be completed in two years, with consultants Perkins Eastman leading the master plan process. Commissioner Delgado pressed the staff on laying out the schedule and cost of the planning effort. Harvey-Williams said it is too soon to know how long the planning will go on past the two-year contract with the current team of consultants, but that the City is looking at spending roughly $7 million, including a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a $2 million matching requirement.

Commissioners called for more frequent updates and greater transparency in the planning process. Commissioner Delgado also suggested having a Planning Commission representative involved in discussions with Caltrans about the project’s future.

The City has also hired historical consultants to study the impacts of both the 710 and 210 freeways on the community, adding another layer to the project’s complexity.