About 760 new apartments could rise along East Colorado Boulevard after six affordable housing projects advanced through Pasadena's planning pipeline, drawing a packed crowd to City Hall on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Residents filled the Housing, Homelessness and Planning Committee meeting after receiving flyers in their mailboxes alerting them to the proposed developments. Four of the projects would be built along East Colorado Boulevard between Allen and Grand Oaks avenues, with two more proposed farther east near Hastings Ranch, Spectrum News 1 reported.

The buildings would range from three to four stories and include limited parking, something allowed under state law for qualifying affordable housing near major transit. Most of the units would be reserved for low-income renters.

"If you want to build them here, let's compromise on the height, the structure, the parking," said Katrina Richardson, a decades-long Pasadena resident. "I just cannot believe you can build 151 units and no parking."

Richardson was one of several speakers who raised concerns about traffic, density and the loss of neighborhood character along the corridor.

State law limits local say

The projects align with SB 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 10, 2025, and effective July 1, 2026. The law, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, generally requires cities to approve qualifying residential projects near transit stops unless they can demonstrate a health, life or safety reason for denial.

All six Metro A Line stations in Pasadena qualify as Tier 2 transit-oriented development stops under SB 79. Within a quarter-mile of those stops, the law allows buildings up to 65 feet tall at 100 units per acre. Between a quarter-mile and half-mile, the cap is 55 feet and 80 units per acre, according to a city Planning Commission presentation.

Mayor Victor Gordo, who chairs the committee, told residents their leverage lies in Sacramento. "Reach out to your assembly member and state senator," Gordo said. "Because the result of state law is what you're seeing, and they're not finished yet."

The City Council adopted an interim urgency ordinance on May 18 to delay SB 79 implementation for certain sites, including those with historic resources and parcels in the Memorial Park, Del Mar and Lake transit zones zoned residential. But the East Colorado corridor was not covered by that pause.

One project already displacing businesses

At least one development is already reshaping the corridor. Lucky Baldwin's Trappiste pub at 1770 E. Colorado Blvd. closed permanently on Aug. 1 to make way for "Colorado Crest," a seven-story, 90-unit affordable housing tower proposed by San Diego-based CPR Affordable Housing and Community Development. That building would rise about 83 feet, well above the 51-foot height limit in the East Colorado Specific Plan, enabled by California's State Density Bonus Law.

The six projects fall within Pasadena's East Colorado Specific Plan area, originally adopted in 2000 and undergoing updates to help meet the state's housing goals. The city's own council agenda references a mandate of "over 9,000 units" required by the state.

Housing advocates defend projects

Not everyone at the Aug. 6 meeting opposed the projects. Rabbi Joshua Grater, CEO of Friends In Deed, a Pasadena homeless services organization, argued the city needs more affordable units. Pasadena's homeless count hit 577 people on Jan. 21, the highest since 2018.

Grater said the count has stayed flat because people keep falling into homelessness as fast as others are housed, driven by rising rents, groceries and insurance costs.

No Planning Commission hearing date or City Council vote has been scheduled for the six projects.