More Homes Possible Near High School

Developers may soon add more homes to the Rose Townhomes site under construction north of Pasadena High School.

On Tuesday, the Pasadena Unified School Board began the process of selling four acres of surplus property it owns adjacent to Rose Townhomes. Until recently, the site was leased to a tennis club.

Acting on a recommendation by its property committee, the board ordered its staff to solicit bids. Estimates of the property’s value range from $2 million to $4 million, said committee member Jon Fuhrman.

The district is evaluating what should be done with excess property its owns throughout Pasadena, including three elementary schools and a former continuation school.

Several years ago, the district sold the 16.4-acre Rose Townhomes site to Los Angeles-based Calmark Development Corp. Calmark later sold the property to Los Angeles-based Kaufman & Broad Home Corp.

In 1988, development plans sparked a massive protest by nearby residents, who protested that the 184-unit project would strain the area’s infrastructure and make the area too dense.

Local residents collected enough signatures on a petition to require a citywide vote, but the measure failed in June, 1988.

Today, some nearby residents worry that an additional 20 to 30 homes would further burden traffic and population density.

“I’m not against them selling the parcel, but I have some concerns about how they want to design it,” says Roland Zapata, who lives a block away.

The committee will also look at the disposition of Sierra Mesa, Hale and Audubon elementary schools, which were closed in the 1980s because of dwindling enrollment and are leased to private schools.

In addition, the committee is evaluating a district-owned site on Foothill Boulevard next to the Southern California Edison plant that once served as the city’s continuation school. Negotiations are under way to relocate a job skills program run by Pasadena City College there, Fuhrman said.