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Part 119: Land Battles and Influence in California - People Power and Civilization Failures
By Zachary Ellison, Independent Journalist
Published October 14, 2024
The atmosphere was celebratory! After two years of organizing, the residents of Altadena and fellow environmentalists had stopped the proposed Poly Fields development by Pasadena Polytechnic School, the toniest private school in the well-to-do city. Poly Fields was to be the solution to its need for more sports facilities and outdoor education, the former a long desired goal of the educational institution. In its public statement, Poly cited construction “requirements drove the development costs to levels that were much higher than anticipated, and far beyond what we believe to be reasonable.” Two organizations had formed to oppose the project, which would have included a 200-car underground garage: Altadena Wild and the Chaney Trail Corridor Project. The latter group had led a direct protest outside the school next to the California Institute of Technology, which was attended by 60 black-clad Altadena residents and one person in a bear costume. Soon after, Altadena Wild had helped organized residents to attend a nighttime meeting at the Altadena Community Center hosted by the Altadena Town Council. Half of Altadena had heard about the proposal, was the word in the packed meeting room.
The representative from the Los Angeles County Planning Department stayed late to answer questions about the proposal. The Chair of the Town Council Executive Committee explained that Poly had only met with them once, behind closed doors, before announcing that they had engaged with the community. Perhaps the project was never quite viable, with the proposed development sited on 13 acres of land currently used for a flower nursery. Altadena, which has only just over 42,000 residents compared to Pasadena’s more than 138,000, was not going to be the primary constituency for Poly, which enrolls relatively few students from the neighboring city. Even if the school had somehow managed to muscle through a second entrance and emergency exit point beyond the narrow two-lane road, which leads to Sunset Ridge and Millard Campground, it would have faced an uphill battle to get through the complex California Environmental Quality Act process, CEQA (see-qwa).
Link: https://zacharyellison.substack.com/p/part-119-land-battles-and-influence]
Published October 14, 2024
The atmosphere was celebratory! After two years of organizing, the residents of Altadena and fellow environmentalists had stopped the proposed Poly Fields development by Pasadena Polytechnic School, the toniest private school in the well-to-do city. Poly Fields was to be the solution to its need for more sports facilities and outdoor education, the former a long desired goal of the educational institution. In its public statement, Poly cited construction “requirements drove the development costs to levels that were much higher than anticipated, and far beyond what we believe to be reasonable.” Two organizations had formed to oppose the project, which would have included a 200-car underground garage: Altadena Wild and the Chaney Trail Corridor Project. The latter group had led a direct protest outside the school next to the California Institute of Technology, which was attended by 60 black-clad Altadena residents and one person in a bear costume. Soon after, Altadena Wild had helped organized residents to attend a nighttime meeting at the Altadena Community Center hosted by the Altadena Town Council. Half of Altadena had heard about the proposal, was the word in the packed meeting room.
The representative from the Los Angeles County Planning Department stayed late to answer questions about the proposal. The Chair of the Town Council Executive Committee explained that Poly had only met with them once, behind closed doors, before announcing that they had engaged with the community. Perhaps the project was never quite viable, with the proposed development sited on 13 acres of land currently used for a flower nursery. Altadena, which has only just over 42,000 residents compared to Pasadena’s more than 138,000, was not going to be the primary constituency for Poly, which enrolls relatively few students from the neighboring city. Even if the school had somehow managed to muscle through a second entrance and emergency exit point beyond the narrow two-lane road, which leads to Sunset Ridge and Millard Campground, it would have faced an uphill battle to get through the complex California Environmental Quality Act process, CEQA (see-qwa).
Link: https://zacharyellison.substack.com/p/part-119-land-battles-and-influence]