Monterey Park spent $16 million on a hillside

Monterey Park has finished unwinding a housing project it approved five years ago, after spending about $16 million of public money to clean up the hillside the developer left behind.

Five years ago Monterey Park approved a gated community of 16 homes at 1688 West Garvey Avenue. On 2 September the City Council took the last formal step in undoing it: it repealed the specific plan that created the project and terminated the development agreement behind it. Sources: 19 August staff report, pp. 691–697, 19 August minutes, 2 September packet, item 10.C.

The Council adopted both ordinances 5–0 on its consent calendar. The City's action-annotated agenda, published on 3 September, records item 10.C as "Approved/Adioted on Consent Calendar" [sic] and names Ordinance No. 2282, repealing Ordinance No. 2210, and Ordinance No. 2283, repealing Ordinance No. 2211. Wong moved the consent motion and Ngo seconded it, covering items 10.A through 10.H except 10.H, which was pulled; the vote grid records an Aye from all five members — Ngo, Wong, Sanchez, Lo and Yang. Source: action-annotated agenda, CivicClerk event 3079, published 3 September.

The hillside came first. On the last day of 2015 the City Attorney sued Center Int'l Investments, Inc. over nuisance conditions on the slope. The case settled in April 2017. Under the settlement, the company would build erosion control, stabilize the property and pay for it. If it did not, the City could do the work itself and bill the company. In July 2021, with that agreement in place, the Council approved the entitlements for the 16-home project on the same land. 19 August staff report, pp. 691–692.

The stabilization never happened. In June 2022 the City declared an emergency, citing what it called an imminent threat to public health and safety, and did the work itself. It has spent about $16 million, secured by nuisance abatement liens that accrue interest at 10 percent a year. According to the staff report, the company "has not paid any portion of this amount." 19 August staff report, pp. 692–693.

The company had pledged a commercial property on Lee Avenue as security. The City foreclosed. The property failed to sell at auction on 2 April 2025, so title passed to the City automatically, and two weeks later the Council accepted it as partial satisfaction of the debt. The City also ended up with the Garvey Avenue hillside itself, acquired, in the staff report's words, "through the nuisance abatement lien and foreclosure process." 19 August staff report, pp. 692–693.

Having taken title, the City now describes itself as the company's "successor in interest". It is terminating an agreement in which it stands in the developer's place. At its 6 May annual review, the Council found the company had failed to demonstrate good-faith compliance. It cited failures on stabilization, the unabated nuisance, permits, documentation, defending the City in litigation, and the unreimbursed $16 million. The report calls it "complete nonperformance." 19 August staff report, pp. 693–694.

The company has not given its account. We could not find a working email address or phone number for Center Int'l Investments (the contact address in its 2021 agreement with the City belongs to a domain that no longer exists), so we have not been able to put these findings to it. Everything above comes from the City's records alone. If the company responds, we will publish what it says.

What happens to the hillside now. Repealing the specific plan restores the site's earlier R-3 zoning. The Goodviews plan allowed at most 16 single-family homes; R-3 allows up to 155 units. The City's General Plan still designates the site Low-Density, which would cap it at 50, but under the state's 2025 housing law AB 130 some qualifying projects need only match one of the two. The staff report gives the reason for wanting the higher number: restoring R-3 would "broaden the potential buyer pool, and maximize the sale price", on the recommendation of a study by the property firm Kidder Mathews. The City intends to market the land for sale to offset what it spent. 19 August staff report, pp. 694–697.

A ballot measure could raise that number again. The same staff report notes that "if voters approve changing the General Plan land use designation to High-Density", the maximum would rise to 186 units. Monterey Park has a housing measure, Measure HOM, on the 3 November ballot. We are not saying the two are connected. But a city that owns land, plans to sell it, and stands to get more for it if a ballot measure passes is worth watching, so we asked the City's planning staff whether that sentence refers to the measure and whether this parcel sits inside it. We did not have an answer before publication. Sources: 19 August staff report, pp. 694–697, City election page.

Record identifiers: Monterey Park City Council item 11.A, 19 August 2026; item 10.C, 2 September 2026; People ex rel. Hensley v. Center Int'l Investments, Inc., LASC BC605788, filed 31 December 2015; Development Agreement 21-01 (Agreement 2252-AA); Ordinances 2210 and 2211; APN 5254-002-903.

Rosemead: 191 townhomes proposed on the old Southern California Edison campus, and the first comment deadline is 16 September. A developer wants to replace the vacant 1982 SCE office building and central plant at 1515 Walnut Grove Avenue with 191 townhomes in 27 buildings. The site is 268,015 square feet on 9.28 acres, where about 904 people once worked. The project needs a General Plan amendment from Office/Light Industrial to High Density Residential and a separate zone change from C-3 with a Design Overlay to Planned Development. The draft environmental study is open for public comment to [email protected] until Wednesday 16 September. The Planning Commission has set a special hearing for Wednesday 23 September at 7 p.m., and the City's Current Projects page lists the same date and time. You can comment on the project itself at the hearing, or by email to [email protected] by 5 p.m. that day. (Applicant: 1515 Walnut Grove, LP. Case numbers GPA 24-01, ZC 24-01, PD 24-01, TTM 84626. APN 5279-027-001. Sources: official notice and environmental documents, CEQAnet filing 2026081013, City Current Projects page.)

Monterey Park: an unfinished retail shell at Garvey and Atlantic now has a 12-month completion deadline. A 28 August administrative order declares 795 W. Garvey Avenue a public nuisance. It requires roof repair and mold remediation within 120 days, completion to the certificate-of-occupancy stage within 12 months, and progress inspections at least every 90 days. If the 12-month deadline is missed, the order requires a performance bond or at least $2 million in completion escrow within another 30 days. It does not order demolition. The City's current permit, B26-1102, covers completion of a 4,700-square-foot retail shell. Neither record identifies a tenant or documents an operating business. On 2 September the Council took the order into closed session, on an item headed "Initiation of Litigation," and reported no action out of it. If a lawsuit follows, we will report it. Sources: 28 August administrative order, pp. 8 and 11–13, permit B26-1102, 2 September closed-session record.

Temple City: new ADU and lot-split rules take effect around 17 September. The Council adopted both ordinances in its 18 August consent vote. ADUs and junior ADUs no longer count against the one-accessory-structure cap in R-1, R-2 and R-3, and the City must decide a complete ADU application tied to an existing home within 60 days. A qualifying R-1 lot split may make no more than two lots and may not create one under 1,200 square feet, and the applicant must promise to live in one unit for three years. Sources: 18 August draft minutes, ADU staff report, SB 9 staff report.

Monterey Park: the seven-story Celadon building at 114 E. Garvey Ave is now fully entitled. Council adopted the ordinance on 19 August, effective around 18 September, completing the approvals for a 169-unit apartment building with about 16,300 sq ft of ground-floor commercial. World Journal reported the approval first. The project used the AB 130 statutory housing exemption. Council Member Yang recused herself for a declared potential conflict of interest, and the recorded vote was 4-0. Sources: 5 August Council minutes, 19 August Council minutes, CEQAnet filing 2026080860.

H&A Coffee & Tea has been open at 9420 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, since 1 August. One of the shop's two owners said so in person; Heshan and Alexander are the H and the A, and this is their first shop. The build-out cost $50,000, per the tenant-improvement permit Rosemead issued 18 May. The sign over the door is still a vinyl banner. They pour a local roaster's coffee and point newcomers to the Tjendol latte or the seasonal golden mango matcha. The iceberg cheesecake is made in the shop, fresh daily. The owners say theirs is the first shop in Los Angeles to sell a Tjendol latte.

Naisnow Tea & Bakery has been open at 500 N. Atlantic Blvd #181 in Monterey Park's Atlantic Times Square since 8 August, per the manager on site.

House of Water is open at 7951 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, refilling five-gallon jugs at $1.75 each. Its channel-letter sign matches the sign permit the city issued in February. No opening date is available.

Pizza Hut at 7779 Garvey Ave, at Del Mar, Rosemead, has closed. The windows are papered over and the interior is stripped. A notice in the door directs customers to other locations. No closing date is posted.

7 Leaves Cafe is coming to 3000 San Gabriel Blvd, Rosemead. Signage is up. No opening date is posted. (FBN statement 2025191782, 7 Leaves Holding, Inc. Source: LA County FBN data.)

Yama Sushi Marketplace is coming to 909 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, next door to Yama Seafood at 911. State ABC records show the same operator holds the active license for Yama Seafood at 911 W. Las Tunas Dr. It also holds a pending beer-and-wine application at 909 W. Las Tunas Dr., where the license held there by The Thai Paradise was surrendered. No opening date is posted. (CA ABC files 00625812, 00680192, 00508466. Source: ABC daily export, 4 September pull.)

Nala Thai, Inc. has applied for a conditional use permit to serve beer and wine at 545 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel — case CUP26-008. No restaurant is trading there; the application's public notice was posted at the premises 28 May 2026. The San Gabriel Planning Commission takes up the case at a hearing Monday, 14 September, at 6:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers at San Gabriel City Hall, streamed on the City's YouTube channel. A hearing is not a decision. Written comment is due by 5 p.m. that same day, at sangabrielcity.com/PlanningComment. (CA ABC file 00678826. City of San Gabriel Notice of Public Hearing, case CUP26-008, posted at the premises. Comment portal: sangabrielcity.com/PlanningComment. Stream: youtube.com/CityOfSanGabriel.)

Pick A Pot, Inc. has applied for a new type-41 beer-and-wine license at 46 W. Valley Blvd, Alhambra (CA ABC file 00681537). The state's public notice was posted at the premises on 2 September 2026. The address does not currently hold a license. The license previously held there by Xiao Long Kan was surrendered (CA ABC file 00621782), though Xiao Long Kan's full signage is still up. Protests must be filed within about 30 days of the posting date, on or about 2 October 2026.

Two things about this list. Rosemead's building permits are why most of these names sit in Rosemead and San Gabriel — that is where our records reach this week, not where the valley is busiest. And Rosemead's permit data runs only through May; June, July and August are still on request.

Where your city council is at, and when it next meets.

Alhambra. Council met Monday 24 August, a Special meeting and the Regular meeting. The City has posted audio of both (recording) and no minutes, so this is what the agendas carried; the outcomes will run when the minutes post. The Special meeting's first item would redraw the Midwick Park / Alhambra Hills Tract Preferred Parking District on staff's recommendation: remove its southern portions along Charnwood Avenue, Westmont Drive and Winthrop Drive, and add Saturday and Sunday enforcement from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on parts of Hellman Avenue, Westmont Avenue and Charnwood Avenue. A survey of 376 households drew 162 responses, about 68% of them for staying in the district. Its consent calendar carried the $196,997 Measure A homelessness appropriation, a $91,946 PaveWest contract for Fire Station 73's parking lot, a design contract capped at $450,000 for a chlorination system at Marengo Reservoir, and street and alley items (Special packet).

The Regular meeting's sole consent item was the second reading of Ordinance O2M26-4869, which would replace the West Main Corridor Master Plan Overlay District with citywide design standards and correct zoning-map errors for two parcels (24 August Regular packet).

The Regular meeting closed with the ceremonial reorganization under city charter section 29. By the agenda's own item, Vice Mayor Adele Andrade-Stadler becomes mayor and Councilmember Ross J. Maza vice mayor, succeeding Jeff Maloney as mayor (24 August Regular packet, p. 3).

Council meets next Monday 14 September at 6:00 p.m.; the packet is not yet posted. Sources: 24 August Council packet, 14 September Council calendar.

The Planning Commission's 8 September meeting is canceled, next 21 September at 7 p.m. (Notice N2M26-106); the Transportation Commission (9 September), Environmental Committee (10 September) and Historic Preservation Commission (23 September) have also canceled, next 11 November (Notice N2M26-111), 12 November (Notice N2M26-112) and 28 October (Notice N2M26-110) respectively.

Monterey Park. Council met Wednesday 2 September, a 5:30 p.m. special session and the regular meeting, and meets next Wednesday 16 September; no agenda is posted yet. The regular meeting's action-annotated agenda records the consent calendar adopted 5–0, item 10.C included (see The Lead); approved minutes are not yet posted. Sources: 2 September Council files, 2 September special meeting files, 16 September Council files.

The Recreation and Parks Commission canceled its 7 September meeting for Labor Day, next regular 5 October, and held a special meeting 8 September at 6:00 p.m. on one item: whether to support removing the George Elder Scout Hut. Its staff report's Executive Summary, Background and Fiscal Impact sections are blank, with no attachments; the recommendation asks the commission to consider "Supporting the removal of the George Elder Scout Hut", then discussing future uses for the space. The commission can only recommend. Source: 8 September agenda, fileId 5532.

The Planning Commission met Tuesday 8 September at 6:30 p.m., its first meeting since 2 June after six straight cancellations, each with a notice reading, verbatim, "is cancelled due to a lack of agenda items." Its agenda carried one public hearing, on Master Sign Plan No. 26-01 for the Garfield Lincoln Center, 100–120 N. Garfield Ave. and 103–123 N. Lincoln Ave. Its next regular meeting is 22 September. Source: 8 September packet, fileId 5547.

Rosemead. Council met Tuesday 8 September to take up peak-hour bus lanes on Garvey Avenue. A joint special meeting with the Traffic Commission at 6:00 p.m. took the item as a study session; the 7:00 p.m. regular meeting carried the item for a vote, on Resolution No. 2026-46, which would approve the scope of the San Gabriel Valley Forward "Jump-Start" demonstration project along Garvey Avenue between New Avenue and the eastern City limit and authorize staff to negotiate with LA Metro and the SGVCOG. Section 2 of Resolution No. 2026-46 sets the scope: side-running peak-hour bus lanes running 7–9 a.m. and 4–7 p.m., transit signal priority, and bus shelter upgrades. Sources: joint special agenda, event 2179, regular agenda, event 1978, item 6.A staff report. Its next regular meeting has not yet been posted to the City's calendar.

The Planning Commission is dark on both 7 and 21 September, per the City's events calendar, and holds a special hearing 23 September (see Development Watch).

Separately, the two-member Commercial Task Force Subcommittee met 31 August to discuss its own future. Staff recommended winding it up: a memorandum from Community Development Director Lily Valenzuela, dated 31 August, recommends "dissolution of the subcommittee as the initial goal of the CTF, namely, to attract and retain national and regional retail tenants, has been achieved." What the two members themselves did with that recommendation is not on the record: a week after the meeting the City has posted no minutes, no recording and no action summary, and the only document on file is that staff report, which the City posted four days before the meeting. Staff are due back at council in early October with a recommendation on whether the subcommittee is kept as is, narrowed, or wound up. Sources: 31 August staff report, 31 August subcommittee agenda.

San Gabriel. Council met Tuesday 1 September, a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m., and meets next Tuesday 15 September at 6:30 p.m., 425 S. Mission Dr. The agenda, posted 9 September, carries no public hearing. On consent, Council is asked to award a $680,600 contract to Green Giant Landscape for the Las Tunas Drive streetscape (a landscaped median and monument sign at the western city limit, 27 street trees, 56 light fixtures, 20 benches), to accept $17.4 million in Measure R funds from LA Metro for intersection projects on Valley Boulevard at New Avenue, Del Mar Avenue and San Gabriel Boulevard and at Mission Drive and Las Tunas Drive, and to approve the minutes of both 1 September meetings. Under new business, Council is asked to appropriate $30,000 toward the Mission Playhouse's 2027 centennial. Sources: 1 September special agenda, 1 September regular agenda, 15 September agenda, 15 September Council calendar.

The Planning Commission meets Monday 14 September at 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers, second floor of City Hall, 425 S. Mission Dr., after canceling its 10 August meeting for lack of business. Its agenda is not yet posted, but a notice at the premises names one item already set for it: CUP26-008, a conditional use permit to serve beer and wine at a proposed restaurant at 545 W. Las Tunas Dr. Written comment goes to sangabrielcity.com/PlanningComment by 5 p.m. the day of the meeting; the meeting streams on the City's YouTube channel. The Community Services Commission's 7 September meeting is canceled.

Temple City. Council met Tuesday 1 September (agenda) and meets next Tuesday 15 September at 7:00 p.m.; the packet is not yet posted. Regular meetings fall the first and third Tuesday at 7 p.m. under Ordinance No. 25-1080 and Resolution No. 25-5799, per the City's meeting participation page and City Council page; the exceptions are a national holiday or an election day, and 15 September is neither. The same 1 September agenda's "FUTURE CITY MEETINGS" box prints "7:00 A.M." for the 15 September meeting, a recurring template error: the same box predicted "7:00 A.M." for the 4 August, 18 August and 1 September meetings too, while each of those meetings' own agenda headers read 7:00 p.m. The City's calendar carries the machine-readable timestamp 2026-09-15T19:00:00 for the same meeting.

The Planning Commission's 8 September meeting is canceled, next 22 September at 7:00 p.m. (notice).

I drove to an address on Stoneman Avenue expecting a bookshop. A filing in August had named one there. The building has no public access, the directory lists four units, and none of them is the bookshop. Our records carry three unrelated business names at that address. I don't know what's there. If you know that block, tell me what I missed.

— Pat

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