Pasadena Beautiful Foundation

Pasadena Beautiful Foundation (PBF) has been awarded a 2021 Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF) Capital Grant for $16,250. We want to thank the PCF for this generous grant that will assist us in achieving our mission to restore, renew and protect Pasadena’s parks, urban forests, and public spaces. 

We are excited that this grant will support the re-planting of 25 cherry trees in Victory Park, in the Northeast area of the city. Many of the original Pink Cloud Cherry trees that were planted in the park in the early 2000 have been damaged. The new trees will be planted sometime early next year in time for spring blooms. Below are some photos when they are in full bloom. Stay tuned for more information on event regarding the re-planting. 

On October 21st, Pasadena Beautiful Foundation awarded the Commercial Design Awards to 9 recipients from the city. The event was held at the Maxwell House, part of the Western Justice Center, at 55 South Grand Avenue.

Each recipient’s representative provided a background history of their design, thought process and effort that showcased their talent to create a beautiful environment for their building and public enjoyment.

Click here to see the main Commercial Design Award Page

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Greywater is water from showers, bath tubs, washing machines, and bathroom sinks. Using greywater is an innovative way to reduce potable water use and flows to the sewer system. It provides for an efficient means to irrigate plants in your landscape, and provides natural groundwater recharge.

There are three types of greywater systems – Laundry-to-Landscape (L2L), Simple, and Complex greywater systems.

Laundry to Landscape

PWP offers an L2L Greywater Program due to their simplicity, affordability, and easy maintenance. L2L systems are the only type of greywater system that does not need a permit to be installed.

Watch this video to view testimonials from PWP customers who have successfully installed an L2L system in their home:

Simple Greywater Systems

Simple greywater systems exceed a Laundry-to-Landscape greywater system and have a discharge capacity of 250 gallons per day or less. Simple greywater systems collect water from bathtubs, showers, and bathroom washbasins for irrigation purposes. Simple greywater systems do not include wastewater from toilets, kitchen sinks or dishwashers. Simple greywater systems require a permit, design and inspection by the City of Pasadena Planning and Community Development Department, because construction and installation of simple greywater systems require cutting of the existing plumbing piping. PWP designed a streamlined permit process and a rebate for permit fees to ease the participation in Simple Greywater Program.

Getting Started with a Simple Greywater System

Step 1: Complete the Greywater Standard Plan application package 

• Download the Greywater Standard Plan application package
• Complete the application package and submit all the pages of the application package to [email protected] for initial review prior to obtaining a permit. PWP will review the application package for completeness, and you will be notified if the application needs any additional information.

Step 2: Obtain Permit

• After PWP reviews the application for completeness, you are ready to submit the application to the Planning and Community Development Department to obtain a permit before installing the greywater system. The Permit Center is located at 175 N. Garfield Ave in Pasadena, Monday-Thursday 8am to 5pm, and Friday 8am to 12pm. You can submit your application package in person at the permit counter. For more information visit the Permit Center site or call 626.744.6646.

Step 3: Install the System and Schedule a Post Inspection

• Once you have received your permit you are ready to install the system. Contact the Building and Safety Department at (626)744-4655 to schedule a post inspection. The inspectors will verify that the system conforms to building codes.

Step 4: Request the Rebate for the Permit Fees

• Submit the copy of the building final inspection sign-off to [email protected]
• You will receive a rebate of up to $200 for your permit fees

Source: City of Pasadena Website

Come Join Us!

Pasadena Beautiful is delighted that fall is finally here.  We are looking forward to cooler crisp days and excited to resume our Wednesday Weeders activities.  

Our first fall meeting is on Wednesday, October 6^th, from 8:30 to 9:30 am. at Singer Park at the corner of St. John and California Boulevard near the Huntington Hospital.  Please come join us and other volunteers to help prune, clip, trim, pick-up trash and to spruce up the park.  Just show up with your hat, water bottle and clippers for one hour a week.  It is a great way to start your day, meet our Board members and at the same time make an impact on keeping Pasadena beautiful.  

Please mark your calendar for our Commercial Design Awards which will be held on Thursday, October 21^st from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. at the historic Maxwell House, Western Justice Center on 55 South Grand Avenue in Pasadena. 12 awards will be presented to commercial organizations that have incorporated outstanding landscape designs in their projects.  Those which have included creative uses of drought tolerant plants and irrigation systems.  Please check our website for more information closer to date.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Brad Hanson, President

Published on Thursday, May 20, 2021 | 10:38 am, PasadenaNow.com

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo has issued proclamations formally recognizing both National Public Safety Week and Arbor Day in Pasadena this month, officials announced Thursday.

National Public Works Week, May 16 through May 22, celebrates the men and women who operate and maintain essential systems, such as sewers and storm drains, streets and sidewalks, traffic signals, public buildings, parks, and trash collection and recycling, city officials said in a written statement.

These vital roles “could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of our public works team members,” the statement said.

Arbor Day falls on May 27 this year.

In addition to the proclamation, the city will plant 11 trees around City Hall and the Civic Center, as well as a large specimen oak tree at Defenders Park, in partnership with the Pasadena Beautiful Foundation. Due to the pandemic, no public events are planned around the planting.

“The City of Pasadena is committed to trees as a defining feature of the city,” the statement said.

Pasadena has been named a Tree City USA designee by the National Arbor Day Foundation for 31 straight years, and has also received a “Growth Award” for its promotion of urban forestry, officials added.

Please see Christian’s video tour of Pasadena City Hall:

OPINION BY BRAD HANSON, PASADENA BEAUTIFUL FOUNDATION PRESIDENT
Published on Thursday, April 1, 2021, Published on PasadenaNow.com

Since its construction 109 years ago, Pasadena’s iconic Colorado Street Bridge has tragically attracted suicide attempts. This prompted The Department of Public Works to add a 10-foot barrier in 2016, while the City considered more permanent options to deterrence. Now the City has placed mockups of three proposed barriers on the bridge for public comment.

Each of those options is a vertical barrier that impairs views of the bridge and degrades the experience of walking it.

The Board of Directors of Pasadena Beautiful strongly urges the City to consider a horizontal barrier, such as the one designed for San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge by the same engineering firm that Pasadena has engaged for the Colorado Street Bridge project. A horizontal net barrier suffers none of the drawbacks of the vertical designs; it wouldn’t detract from views or intrude on the walking experience. San Francisco supplements the net with paid and volunteer bridge patrols and has phones on the bridge, wired to a suicide prevention hotline. There is no reason that Pasadena couldn’t implement a similar program.

We believe the City dismissed the option of a horizontal barrier without adequately analyzing it, instead offering fact-free assertions that would-be suicides would have to be physically removed from it, while thrill-seekers would repeatedly be seeking to jump from it. The Colorado Street Bridge surely merits, and the community of Pasadena deserves, that the City consider a horizontal barrier that would deter suicides while respecting the aesthetics of our treasured bridge.

Please visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/public-works/engineering-and-construction/construction/colorado-street-bridge/

Fill out the survey and give your input at the end of the site.

https://www.goldengatebridgenet.org

Also hear Brad Hanson talk about the bridge on KPCC’s AirTalk with Larry Mantle.

From The LA Times, May 10, 2019

From West Pasadena Residents’ Association, “The News” Fall 2016: