HomeCity NewsPlanning Director to Retire After 22 Years

Planning Director to Retire After 22 Years

Robert Stanley

Robert Stanley will retire from his position as La Cañada Flintridge’s director of Community Development at the end of April, he wrote in an email Wednesday.
“I will definitely miss being part of this city and helping to maintain the high standards for the community,” said Stanley, who started working for LCF in September 1996 and took over as director in January 1998.
He leads the city’s busiest department. At last week’s State of the City address, then-Mayor Michael Davitt shared some statistics about the Community Development Department’s workload in the previous year: 1,724 plan checks, 439 code enforcement cases and 37 planning cases while responding to an average of 1,100 customer service requests per month.

CONSIDERING
POOL SAFETY

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, council members voted 5-0 to adopt a city policy on safety features for swimming pools, spas and hot tubs.
The city policy aligns with state law but differs from L.A. County’s new policy, said Susan Koleda, deputy director of community development, who said the city has received complaints that the county’s regulations are overly restrictive.
LCF’s policy will require that all pools shall include a pool enclosure (such as a fence or wall) and at least one of the drowning prevention safety measures identified by the city, such as removable mesh fencing, providing a pool alarm or installing a power safety cover.
“This is like three-dimensional chess,” Councilman Greg Brown said. “The bottom line is the county has gone further than state requirements and that’s what’s causing all the problems. This gives people the alternative, and it still has layers of protection.
“Obviously,” Brown added, “it still comes down to people being responsible. [Even if you have these safety measures], I worry a little bit about the unintended consequences. People do these things and think they’re safe, but it still requires supervising.”
Added Councilman Michael Davitt: “It goes back to the importance of teaching everyone in your home how to swim.”

TREE HOUSE ON DECK

With his 7- and 9-year-old in attendance, John Womack appealed to the City Council to consider reviewing its tree ordinance to allow for his children’s tree house to stay.
Council members agreed to consider it, instructing city staff to include the matter on a future meeting agenda.
Womack said he did research on the city’s website before he built the small structure, which he said doesn’t harm the oak tree in which it’s built.
“I didn’t cut the branches or alter the tree,” Womack said.
“The tree is still living, the roots are great. … From the outside looking in, your job is to protect the way of life in the community, you have to make sure the environment is being protected, but I think you also have to make sure the family portion of La Cañada is being protected as well.”

ADU POLICY APPROVED

Council members voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance amending the city’s Accessory Dwelling Unit policy so that it aligns with new state regulations.
The new ordinance removes prior regulations limiting the size of ADUs as well as the minimum lot size required.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=3]

27