By Brandon HENSLEY

During the Crescenta Valley Town Council Meeting on July 19, some complaints were raised about Caltrans’ construction on the 210 Freeway and its still-incomplete status. On Monday, 43rd State Assemblymember Laura Friedman shared a letter on social media she wrote to Caltrans District 7 director Shirley Choate to request her attendance at the Aug. 16 Town Council meeting.

Friedman wrote that there have been “outstanding serious concerns” over the project, which started in 2015, that was scheduled to be done before July of this year. The expected completion date has since changed several times.

“The construction has caused the community to endure numerous safety issues, terrible traffic and other negative impacts on their quality of life,” Friedman wrote. She also wrote that, since school will be starting next month, the community deserves a representative at the next meeting to let council know when an exact deadline is nearing, what are the completion dates for the restriping, and give “a review of the numerous safety concerns that have arisen from the unmarked lane detours, and off-ramp/on-ramps.”

Last week, Caltrans released information to CVTC president Harry Leon on the current state of some of the construction. Caltrans said the contractor is currently grinding the recently paved highway on westbound I-210 for the entire stretch of the project, from Los Robles Avenue to Lowell Avenue; on eastbound I-210, the contractor is replacing 143 slabs of concrete from Dunsmore to Pennsylvania. The contractor needs to get together with Caltrans maintenance to replace concrete panels at several locations along both sides of I-210; residents can expect the northbound 2 Freeway to the eastbound 210 Freeway connector and the Verdugo Boulevard off-ramp closed on weeknights for the next two to four weeks. The contractor is at this location drilling holes for the new posts to install the new full-span sign on the northbound 2 Freeway. There are issues with bedrock and granite regarding the east-to-east tunnel; the contractor is currently installing permanent tunnel lighting. This has been scheduled for all of August and could run into September.

At the meeting, Connie Chung from LA County Regional Planning gave a presentation on the density bonus ordinance, which allows a developer to “build more residential units on your property than what is allowed by code if you use LA County’s Density Bonus,” according the LA County website. The project may qualify for a density bonus if it has either affordable units or senior citizen (55 and older) units. The size of the bonus depends on many factors, such as how many units are reserved for affordable housing or senior housing.

Chung said the ordinance, which applies to all unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, was last comprehensively updated in 2006, and that no density projects have occurred in La Crescenta.

The website also said that “qualified projects may also be eligible to receive other benefits, such as reduced parking requirements or other development standard modifications. However, the density bonus cannot be applied to uses or building types that are prohibited by zoning (for example, multi-family buildings in a single-family residential or agricultural zone).”

County Planning is updating the ordinance to further ease and incentivize the development of affordable housing. Chung told Leon that at the Aug. 2 Land Use Committee meeting, County will work with the Land Use Committee to provide a better sense of how the ordinance will actually impact the community in terms of zoning, vacant uses, and parcel sizes.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. in the La Crescenta Library Community Room, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley