Pasadena hears Reconnecting 7/10 vision plan emphasizing restorative justice, housing and phased infrastructure
Loading...
Summary
The Pasadena City Council on March 30, 2026 received the draft "Reconnecting Pasadena" vision plan for the SR-710 relinquishment area, a community-driven framework that links restorative-justice elements, a proposed 30% affordable housing goal, and phased infrastructure recommendations; staff set a follow-up workshop for April 13 to dig into traffic, phasing and finance.
The Pasadena City Council on March 30, 2026 heard a multi-hour presentation of the draft Reconnecting Pasadena (SR-710 relinquishment) vision plan that pairs design concepts with an explicit restorative-justice framework and preliminary housing and financing targets.
Danny Parker, chair of the Reconnecting Communities 7/10 advisory group, told the council the advisory group's three-year effort focused on community engagement and producing recommendations that center displaced families and long-term neighborhood benefits. "We were charged with soliciting, hearing, and amplifying the voices of the entire Pasadena community," Parker said, urging flexibility, a distinct Pasadena identity for the project, and efforts to keep dollars circulating locally.
The advisory group's restorative-justice standing committee, led by Tina Williams, recommended a package of actions the group called foundational to righting historical harms from mid-20th-century freeway construction. Williams highlighted a proposed Restorative Justice Community Oversight Committee (RJCOC) and recommended that at least 51% of that oversight body be comprised of displaced residents, descendants or their designated representatives.
"Restorative justice is a dynamic process which takes action to repair direct and indirect harms caused by the proposed construction of the 710 and the 210," city staff and consultants said in their presentation of the advisory group's definition and the 10 restorative-justice elements included in the packet.
Perkins Eastman planners presented the vision-plan alternatives and organizing goals. Kate Howe, a Perkins Eastman planner and project manager, described a 50-acre study area and six organizing concepts including physical reconnection, placemaking, economic vitality, and sustainability. Consultants outlined two circulation/design frameworks: a lower-intervention option and a more transformative "boulevards and paseos" approach that the advisory group favored for greater connectivity and public space.
Wayne Brandt, chair of the land-use and mobility committee, summarized committee priorities: adopt a boulevard/paseo approach for mobility and place-making where feasible; phase the project so infrastructure precedes housing and commercial buildout; and pursue finance structures (including long-term ground leases) to narrow feasibility gaps. The advisory group and consultants identified a preliminary housing target of roughly 1,500—1,800 units with a staff-noted affordability target near 30% and a project-scale financing footprint the presentation described as roughly a $1 billion undertaking.
Traffic, trip-reduction assumptions and enforceability drew sustained council and public scrutiny. Councilmember Jones pressed consultants about the plan's assumption of 30—35% trip reductions, asking what would happen to current through traffic if reductions did not materialize. Iteris traffic consultant Vigan Davidian said the team had run scenarios and that the vision plan establishes goals rather than fixed infrastructure solutions; he said more detailed modeling and entitlement triggers would be developed in the specific-plan and environmental-review phases.
"The vision plan sets the stage. It does definitional work," said Kate Howe, reiterating staff's point that the document is a guide that will feed subsequent feasibility, design and entitlement work.
Public commenters overwhelmingly urged strong restorative-justice commitments and a robust housing response. Speakers representing housing equity groups and descendants of displaced families called for reserved units, down-payment assistance and other ownership pathways tied to the project. Several speakers urged a larger housing ambition to produce meaningful reparative outcomes; arts and culture advocates asked the city to set aside live-work and public-art spaces.
Staff outlined next steps: produce a staff report and recommendations, prepare technical studies and environmental review for a future specific plan, and return to the council for a substantive workshop on April 13. City planning director Jennifer Page said the specific-plan phase will include required technical chapters, environmental studies and public outreach before any entitlement actions.
The council did not take formal action on the vision plan on March 30 but directed staff and consultants to provide more detailed traffic, phasing and finance information at the scheduled follow-up meeting. The council also encouraged continued community engagement and pledged to bring additional data on enforceable entitlement tools that could tie outcomes to housing, trip-reduction and restorative-justice commitments.
The most immediate procedural step: staff requested and the council agreed to a return workshop on April 13, 2026 to dive deeper into contested areas of traffic modeling, phasing options and project finance.
