Montebello council advances citywide zoning amendments on first reading after heated debate over golf course and protections for Armenian monument and Scout Hut

The Montebello City Council voted on first reading to advance a citywide package of zoning amendments intended to implement the Montebello 2040 general plan and the city's sixth-cycle housing element, but only after adding legally binding protections and community-focused conditions following hours of public comment.

Planning Manager Brianna Esparza told the council the package would amend Title 17 of the Montebello Municipal Code to establish objective design standards for residential and mixed-use development and update the zoning map to demonstrate capacity required by state law. "For Montebello, 5,186 units must be provided," Esparza said, summarizing the city's RHNA obligation and the statutory deadlines that led staff to propose the ordinance.

Nut graf: The council paused and then approved an amended motion that records two covenants — one to preserve the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument and one to protect the Montebello Scout Hut — and that commits the city to a community visioning process, a traffic and infrastructure study, and suspension of an earlier RFP so any future proposal will reflect community-defined development standards. Council members also agreed to exclude the golf-course parcels from the current rezoning exhibit and to revisit site capacity for the next housing-element cycle.

The vote capped more than an hour of public testimony from residents and Armenian community leaders who urged the council to protect views of the monument, preserve donated green space that some speakers said was subject to a 1941 Bicknell conveyance, and legally safeguard the scout house used by youth organizations. Annie Minassian, a member of the Armenian community, said the monument had "assured [Armenians] and their descendants that not only is their culture accepted here, but their deep rooted pain is given a voice and a place to grieve and remember." Several speakers asked the council to continue the item until broader community talks were held.

City attorney and staff explained the protections. The covenants the council approved to record on title "run with the land" and will be recorded with the county clerk, staff said, giving future reviewers notice of restrictions. Staff said covenants and the viewshed overlay ordinance would add layers of protection and that CEQA review would analyze any project's visual impacts if a development application were later filed.

Council member Peralta led the motion to approve the ordinance with conditions emphasizing community engagement, traffic study requirements, and a guarantee of publicly accessible open space defined by the visioning process. After an initial motion failed, the council adopted a revised motion that excludes the golf-course parcels from the present rezoning map, incorporates Peralta's conditions, and amends the Scout Hut covenant to be tied to the Montebello Lions Club rather than a small scout troop. That amended motion passed on first reading by unanimous roll call; the ordinance will return for a required second reading and final adoption at a later meeting.

What happens next: The council's action is an introduction (first reading) of the ordinance as amended; staff said any future development on affected properties would still require separate discretionary approvals, environmental review, and public hearings. Staff also noted that failure to demonstrate adequate sites could expose the city to actions by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), including corrective action and, in limited circumstances, enforcement remedies under state housing law.

The council’s vote does not itself approve any particular development. It advances the zoning amendments with additional protections and direction to staff to pursue the community visioning, RFP suspension and traffic analysis called for in the motion.