Monrovia is seeing more development interest in our community than ever before. Indeed, it may feel like the City is suddenly moving in a different direction, when in fact, the City has been laying the groundwork for these developments for decades.

In 1993, the City’s General Plan, which acts as a long-term road map for the community, was revised to encourage transit-related development around the future light rail stop.

By the mid-2000s, as the Foothill Gold Line Extension was coming closer to fruition, the City commissioned the Urban Land Institute to lend their expertise in the planning of a transit village around the proposed light rail station, coining the name “Station Square Transit Village.”

In 2008, the City amended its General Plan to adopt the vision and detailed guidelines for the Station Square Transit Village. This created areas of focused housing density not only at Station Square, but also in the edges surrounding Old Town and on the west end of Huntington Drive.

Then the Great Recession hit, followed by the dissolution of redevelopment agencies statewide. With the tools of redevelopment no longer available and the prolonged economic downturn, new developments in these areas slowed to a crawl.

In 2014, renewed development interest spurred the City to adopt the Station Square Transit Village Planned Development Area to allow for greater housing densities and a mix of uses around the light rail station.

In preparation for the Gold Line coming to Monrovia, the City invested nearly $25 million in on-site construction, including the creation of a transit plaza, promenade, and Station Square Park, along with off-site road and traffic improvements to the area. The Gold Line opened on March 5, 2016, ushering in a new, connected era for Monrovia.

During the past several years, the City has been carefully managing proposed development initiatives to ensure that the vision developed over the past two decades are thoughtfully executed. There are currently around 2,200 housing units / rooms in the development pipeline, which constitutes a 15% increase in our total housing supply.

Of particular note, most of the current development interest that we’re seeing is located around Station Square and the Monrovia Gold Line Station, where proposals have been put forward that have an urban-esque development flavor (and which are being mitigated with suburban-based planning principles).  Now certainly, without proper context, these development patterns and the number of proposed new units can be somewhat startling, and may elicit a strong initial reaction.  Because when dealing with policies related to growth, housing, and development, the issues often times end up pitting two sides against one another.

On the one extreme, there are those who advocate for no-growth. That is, until we have more water, clean air, and no traffic, we should not allow any development whatsoever.  On the other extreme, you have those who advocate for a pure free-market approach… that government should allow developers to build whatever they want, so long as the market allows for it.

Here in our community, what we’ve been working on for the past 25 years is to find a more balanced way – a true Monrovia way – to solve the pressing challenges facing our City.  And while there is no doubt that traffic and parking and environmental concerns are challenges that the City needs to address, so too is the fact that housing costs continue to rise and incomes can’t keep up.

So here at the City, we’ve been working to  navigate a course whereby we carefully plan for and mitigate the potential impacts of new development while facilitate the construction of additional housing projects that meet our high standards. This includes pushing for the inclusion of affordable housing every chance that we get.

We encourage you to engage with the City and learn more about how we are tackling these challenges head on, as we strive to work together to find the best path to ensure that Monrovia’s future stays brighter than our very successful past.

Mello-Roos Districts Help Fund Ongoing Costs of Providing Services to New Housing

The City is implementing creative solutions to reduce the impacts of new developments in Monrovia - and making developers pay their fair share.

A special property tax tied to new development creates additional revenue to pay for increased service level costs associated with housing growth.

In 1978, the California State legislature passed Proposition 13, which severely restricts local governments’ ability to increase property taxes to build new public facilities, like fire stations, or provide additional services, such as more police officers on patrol. The Community Facilities Act was passed in response so local governments could establish special districts as a way to pay for these services.

In Monrovia, the City Council is implementing Mello-Roos Districts as a way to make developers pay for the extra demands they will create on City services. This ensures that the costs of additional services and facilities required for these new developments are passed through to the new people moving in, while the quality of services remains at levels our community has come to expect. The special tax stays in effect as long as necessary to pay the costs of increased services – with an annual cost increase to keep up with inflation. This will help ensure as expenses rise over time, the City has the resources it needs to keep up with demand.

In September 2018, City Council began the district formation process by approving the 296-unit Richman Residential Project as the first Mello-Roos District put in place in Monrovia. More districts will be forming throughout 2019 as projects go through the approval process.

What services can be funded through Mello-Roos Districts?

When creating each district, the City carefully evaluates what services will be needed above and beyond what is currently being offered to meet demand. While the particular needs of each district may vary, the main services being financed through these special taxes include the following:

1. Police protection services
2. Fire protection and suppression services, and ambulance and paramedic services
3. Maintenance, operation and lighting of parks, parkways, roads, and open space
4. Maintenance and operation of any real property necessary to provide the services above

New developments pay a 34.4% higher water rate than current residents

In Monrovia, we recognize the need to protect the limited resources in our region. Persistent drought conditions in our region have drained the aquifers where Monrovia draws its water to dangerously low levels.

Thankfully, we have the option of importing water from other areas in the State. However, imported water comes at a much higher cost than water produced locally.

In 2018, the City adopted a New Development Water Rate, which will require that any new project adding 5 or more units to the City pay the full cost of importing water from outside the region for their use.

This New Development Water Rate means that any new development projects will have to pay an effective water rate that is 34.4% more expensive than the normal water rate that current Monrovians are charged.

This policy enhancement will ensure that our existing residents and businesses are not forced to bear the added cost of importing more water into the City to serve a new population base.

To offset the impacts from new housing growth and to mitigate congestion in the developing areas, the City has engaged in a series of assessments regarding mechanisms to reduce the impact of increased traffic.

Key Intersections Analyzed:

• Huntington Drive @ 5th Avenue / Monterey Avenue / Mountain Avenue
• Myrtle Avenue @ Duarte Avenue / Central Avenue / Pomona Avenue / I-210 Freeway Underpass
• Mountain Avenue @ Evergreen Avenue

A key strategy to reduce congestion will be traffic signal synchronization to improve traffic flow on the most congested corridors in our city.

• Adjusting signal timing helps reduce delays for motorists, moving you through the area more efficiently. By improving the speed at which cars can get through major corridors, less traffic is diverted onto local residential streets. This improves safety and reduces wear and tear on local streets that weren’t made to handle Mountain Avenue @ Evergreen Avenue.

The City hired a transportation consulting firm to perform a traffic signal synchronization evaluation and to investigate the Myrtle Avenue / I-210 Intersection. With a focus on mitigating traffic and easing the flow, the consultants will identify multiple potential systems for the City to consider.

The traffic signal synchronization evaluation will be based on the needs of each signal system and assess the benefits and the drawbacks of each, and identify needed equipment upgrades or installations.

At the Myrtle Ave / I-210 intersection, the possibility of upgrading the interchange will be considered to help clear up existing congestion and prepare for future developments, including a bike lane, and to explore other improvements.

It is the City’s priority to make sure that we address the transportation-related impacts of new housing developments in our community, while improving traffic conditions to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.

There’s also an environmental benefit to improving traffic flow. Less congestion helps reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions from idling vehicles, improving the air quality around us. Now, that means you can breathe a little easier.

Traffic Impact Fees for Developers

The City adopted a traffic impact fee study to analyze the amount of new auto trips over the next 20 years that can be attributed to new developments. During this study, 29 separate traffic intersections were analyzed to assess impacts through the target year of 2040. A Traffic Impact Fee (TIF) was adopted.

Maintaining Our Roads

As more cars travel on our local roads, the City is committed to performing ongoing maintenance of our streets so that you can get from Point A to Point B safe and sound.

Since 2015, the City has been engaged in Monrovia Renewal, a $51.7 million initiative to repair all streets rated in less than satisfactory condition, along with repairing our aging water and sewer infrastructure.  Streets rated in failing condition are torn down to dirt and rebuilt to last.

Through Monrovia Renewal, the City is also investing in repairing every trip hazard and raised or cracked sidewalk throughout our community, so that it’s safe to walk and roll to get where you’re going.

By instituting the Traffic Impact Fees on all future developments, this fee will help offset these traffic impacts and fund an array of transportation improvements. The City Council will consider the adoption of a traffic impact fee on September 17, 2019. More information, including the Traffic Impact Fee Study.

The City is working with expert traffic engineers to find the right balance for how much parking is needed to keep up with demand around Station Square.

As the City’s population grows, ensuring there is enough parking for residents and businesses is crucial. Over the past several months, the City has been working with expert Traffic Engineers to perform an overall parking assessment for existing and future housing developments in Monrovia.

Part of this assessment includes conducting parking counts in existing parking structures in the City’s large, multi-family developments. Parking counts carefully analyze how many spots are utilized at a given time and allow you to draw a comparison to future parking availability in similar developments.

Parking counts were conducted in the Areum, Paragon, and Colorado Commons parking structures. These were analyzed during both peak and off-peak hours.  The parking assessment found that during peak demand at midnight, when most residents are home, the parking demand rate was between 1.24 and 1.75. That means that for each unit occupied at Areum, for example, there are 1.24 cars that need a parking space. When you factor in guest parking spaces, that brings the parking demand rate up to 1.41 parking spots per unit. So how does this compare to the housing projects in the pipeline?

The new multi-family projects will have between 1.7 and 1.8 parking spaces per unit, including guest parking. Based on the current state of parking demand and the higher rates being included, there is reason to be optimistic that the parking demand will be more than met. Even so, the City is being cautious and carefully reviewing each project’s specific needs and anticipated demands during the approval process.
Of note, each of the housing projects included in the analysis are nearly fully occupied: Paragon is currently 93% full, Areum is 95% full, and Colorado Commons is 100% full. This gives additional credibility to the parking demand identified.

As parking is a major area of concern, the Monrovia City Council, along with the Planning Commission, held a joint meeting on June 3, 2019, to discuss the potential parking impacts. Together, the City Council and Commission approved a parking mitigation plan that requires developers to implement a parking policy for their residents. The policy will ensure that residents belonging to a certain complex must park within the parking spots designated for their residents, allowing adequate street parking for surrounding neighborhoods.

In Southern California, the demographic trends indicate that the population will grow by more than 4 million people in the next 25 years. Combined with real estate prices rising three times faster than household income, finding housing at an affordable price is becoming increasingly difficult.

Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Richard K. Green places the responsibility of the affordable housing crisis on the fact that there has not been a new supply of apartments resulting in very low vacancy rates.

In Monrovia, we are doing our best to combat unaffordable housing with a three-prong approach:

1. Increase the housing supply
2. Institute smart housing policies
3. Create community partnerships to help the most vulnerable.

Monrovia currently has 14,575 total housing units and with a total of 2,023 new units of housing in the development pipeline, that will equate to a 14% increase in total housing supply! This will effectively allow the City to consider all of the affordable housing initiatives, such as inclusionary rules, subsidized housing, and rent control. Additionally many of the housing units in the development pipeline are conveniently located within a few blocks of the Monrovia Gold Line station in Station Square. This focus on building near and around high-quality transit options can reduce the need to own an automobile, reducing transportation costs, parking demands, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The City has taken steps to include affordable housing options throughout Monrovia. The City performed a review of the entire housing stock in the City and found that approximately 2% of our housing stock are deemed as affordable. The City has facilitated the production of 321 affordable housing units in Monrovia with 100 for-sale units and 221 subsidized units from tax credits, Section 8, etc.

For the proposed development projects, the City is working closely with developers to negotiate the inclusion of affordable housing units.

Thus far, we have negotiated the inclusion of:

• 25 very low-income units in the West Pomona Transit District
• 15 very low-income units in the Arroyo at Monrovia project
• 13, 1-bedroom very low-income units in the Avalon Bay project

Other housing policies the City has engaged include protection of current affordable housing stock, judicious use of State density bonus laws, low development fees and the Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance established in 2017.

As additional projects progress through the City Council review process, more details will become available for each project with regards to affordable housing.

One of the most exciting partnerships the City explored is the development of a program with our faith community. Led by Mountainside Communion, the City developed a Monrovia-centric program to assist the emerging homeless population in our community. This involved having a case manager to assist in identifying local housing options, providing options for rapid rehousing-in Monrovia-of those being displaced, and offering other types of financial assistance for those truly in need.

As we build Monrovia, the City will continue to approach development with consideration to the impacts of housing affordability.

Special property tax on new developments will ensure Police and Fire services keep up with population growth.

As the City’s population grows, so too will the demands on what is needed to keep our community safe. 

The City of Monrovia takes pride in being a full-service city that provides our residents with nearly all essential services, including police and fire services. 

With the special taxes that are collected from the Mello-Roos districts being established for each of the City’s new housing development projects, the City will ensure we have the proper funding to keep public safety our number one priority.

In order to keep the ratio of officers to residents at a reasonable and responsible rate, funds collected from Mello-Roos districts will go to meet the staffing and operational needs for the Monrovia Police Department and Monrovia Fire & Rescue. Fire and Police will receive the money to increase staff, when necessary, and update and maintain vital equipment.

The Mello-Roos special tax will have no burden on residents outside the district, but will have positive benefits for the City as a whole.

The City works with developers to incorporate and preserve open space for recreation, leisure, and beauty.

With the goal of ensuring a healthy and livable community for our residents, in April 2018, the City of Monrovia updated the Open Space Element. This is a long-range planning document that creates a vision for an inclusive and interconnected system of parks and open spaces. Thriving communities need a balance of both developed areas and continued investments in parks and recreation to meet the needs of the community, support youth development, and provide options for residents to lead healthy, active lives. In conjunction with the Open Space Element, the Park Master Plan provides specific methods and goals to ensure parks and open spaces are located throughout the city to promote active living, outdoor recreation, and an overall more livable community. With each development being added to the City, open and green space is being incorporated and preserved according to these plans. Future developments will allocate space to be classified as “open” with pocket parks and lush landscaping for residents and the public to enjoy. Learn more about the City’s Open Space Element and Park Master Plan here.