Council speeds through several key issues

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

The old abandoned COURIER and Claremont Copies site at 111 S. College Avenue is the favored location of Claremont’s Affordable Housing Task Force for the development of affordable housing.

Council speeds through several key issues

Family Festival changes

The Wednesday night Family Festival will have extended hours beginning next week. The council approved several measures to enhance the festival and make operations run more smoothly. The festival will now run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The streets will be closed from 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. to allow the vendors additional time to set up and close up their booths.

Another change will be the closure of Oberlin Avenue from First Street to Bonita Avenue to vehicular traffic except for residents and their guests. A marshal will be stationed at the northern entrance of Oberlin Avenue to control the flow of traffic. The council voted to allow the temporary used of generators for vendors needing electricity until $3500 worth of electrical upgrades are made on First Street.

Maureen Aldridge, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the initial success of the festival, saying that over 2000 people had visited the first 2 festivals. She urged the council to approve the measures. Only Councilmember Peter Yao opposed some of the changes.

Base Line Road speed limit change

The speed limit will be raised on the section of Base Line Road between Towne Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard. The limit will increase from 40 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. Cities are required to do speed surveys every 7 years or if changes are made to a street such as the addition of a new median. The city recently upgraded Base Line Road after taking ownership of the street from Caltrans.

The new speed survey found that the median speed on that section of Base Line Road was 48 miles per hour, requiring the city to increase the speed limit. The speed limit on the road between the western edge and Towne Avenue will remain at 40 miles per hour and the limit between Indian Hill Boulevard and the eastern border will remain at 45 miles per hour.

General Plan amendment

The city council unanimously approved zoning changes for 3 parcels of land near the 210 Freeway. The properties were originally acquired by Caltrans to construct the 210 Freeway. Once the freeway was completed, the properties were declared excess land and designated as Park/Resource Conservation.

Over the past few years, the city and Caltrans have been in litigation over the designation until January 2009 when they reached a settlement. As part of the agreement, the city was required to change the zoning from Park/Resource Conservation to Single Family Residential. The new designation would allow Caltrans to sell the properties at market value.

The 3 parcels include a .46 acres parcel located at the southeast corner of Live Oak Canyon and Base Line Road, a .22 acre parcel at the southern portion of Sumner Avenue near the 210 Freeway and a 3-acre property near Amherst Drive and the 210 Freeway.

In April, the General Plan changes were brought before the Planning Commission, which voted 4 to 3 against making the zoning changes. The city council voted 4 to 0 in favor of the land use changes. Mayor Corey Calaycay refrained from voting as he owns property near the parcels.

CBO and homeless program funding

Nearly $130,000 of General Fund money was given to Community organizations and programs aimed at helping the city’s homeless population. Each year, the Human Services Commission reviews applications from local non-profits seeking funding for their programs.

Some of the organizations receiving funding include Claremont After School Programs ($10,000), Claremont Meals on Wheels ($4,500), House of Ruth ($4,500), Uncommon Good ($5,000) and Crossroads Inc ($2,000). A total of $86,650 went to 20 different programs.

This year the city funded 4 different program aimed at addressing homeless problems in Claremont. The council awarded $5,000 to the Claremont Unified School District to provide appropriate education for homeless children with disabilities and $37,680 to Inland Valley Hope Partners for food, house shelter and family stabilization programs. The $42,680 for homeless programs came from transit occupancy tax earned by the city from Hotel Casa 425 in the fiscal year 2007-08.

—Tony Krickl