Family, Neighborhood, Community

Hundreds of Azusa citizens took an active part in planning for their community’s future this year. A Citizens Congress has been created to give residents and business people a direct voice in revising Azusa’s General Plan and writing an innovative new Development Code to replace outdated zoning regulations.

The historic first session of the Citizens Congress drew more than 300 delegates to hammer out a broad vision and values to guide future plans. Keynote speaker Henry Cisneros drew on his experience as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to marvel, “during my federal service, I visited more than 300 cities and communities and participated in many efforts like this. I never saw a better prepared document outlining the major challenges than the one that you have put together.” He was referring to a 36 page publication in both English and Spanish sent to every household in Azusa. Called “This is Azusa,” it provided background information and asked provocative questions about such themes as “Where we live: homes and neighborhoods” or “What Nature has given us: mountains, river and canyon.”

The results of two days of discussions at the first Citizens Congress were then distributed widely in the community leading up to the second session of the Citizens Congress in October. Again hundreds of Azusa citizens participated in a full-day program to intensely debate choices for six key “change areas” in the city. At the end of day, when the votes were tallied, Azusa residents selected options for future development, including:

• Around Azusa Pacific University and Citrus College, a new University District replacing declining strip commercial development with a walkable mix of retail and office development serving the campuses and surrounding neighborhoods.

• On the Monrovia Nursery site, a walkable mix of uses, including an office campus around a future light rail station north of the University District blending with new homes and park space.
• Downtown, one-of-a-kind restaurants, stores and galleries emphasizing the cultural richness of Azusa to draw locals and visitors alike.
In December, a “Citizens Congress Community Forum drew 150 delegates to focus on future directions in education, recreation, health and safety issues. Next month, five neighborhood meetings will look at traffic, housing and park issues throughout the community. All these ideas will form a “sketch plan” that will be discussed at the next Citizens Congress session scheduled for May 2001, leading to a final plan by the end of the year, followed by a new Development Code to implement the new vision and guide future development in the community.

(For more results see www.ci.azusa.ca.us/planning/cit_con2_changeareas.asp)