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Baldwin Park approves Ana Montenegro pocket park on former industrial lot
Summary
Council unanimously approved a general plan amendment, zone change and design review to build a roughly 9,000-square-foot pocket park (Ana Montenegro Park) at Main Avenue and Joan Bridge/June Bridge; project includes a restroom, play structures, shade and security lighting and is subject to a mitigated negative declaration under CEQA.
The Baldwin Park City Council voted unanimously Oct. 15 to approve a general plan amendment, zone change and design review to convert a vacant, city-owned industrial parcel into a roughly 9,000-square-foot pocket park to be named Ana Montenegro Park.
City planner Nick Baldwin told the council the city is deficient in park acreage — about 0.3 acres per 1,000 residents compared with a county average of 3.3 acres per 1,000 — and the proposed park would add play equipment, shade structures, five large shade trees, a 500-square-foot men’s and women’s restroom building, decorative walls and an eight-foot steel picket fence. The parcel was acquired by the city on April 6, 2022 using Quimby and community enhancement funds for future park use, Baldwin said.
The project design incorporates local cultural elements, including talavera-style wall treatments and a paper-cut (papel picado)–inspired shade structure, and includes security lighting and cameras. No off-street parking is proposed. An initial study and a mitigated negative declaration were prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), staff said.
Council members and staff discussed pedestrian safety and on-street parking. Several council members asked whether traffic-calming measures could be added to protect children walking to the park; the planning commission had recommended speed bumps, but city public works staff advised that the proposed locations did not meet the engineering standards and raised safety concerns near the intersection. Public Works staff said the intersection already includes a marked crosswalk, bulb-outs and truncated domes at curb ramps and that the city would explore additional measures such as in-pavement flashing lights or targeted crosswalk treatments.
Council and staff also discussed parking pressures from nearby commercial and auto-repair uses. Staff said the recreation and community services department had directed community enhancement and parking enforcement to monitor the area; the council accepted a planning-commission recommendation to limit parking in front of the park as a condition of approval.
The council adopted resolutions approving the general plan amendment, zone change and design review. Staff said the project will proceed under the conditions of approval adopted by the council and return as necessary for implementation steps. The council recorded the vote as unanimous.
