Watt A Wonderful World It Might Be

I had posted this as a comment on the original "Watt, Me Worry" post but Meg felt that it deserved a post of its own so people can better respond to it.
__________________________________________________

As those who were at dba Wednesday night already know, I ended up not attending the Planning Commission meeting. At the mixer earlier, in talking with many of the chamber and downtown business types I learned that Watt didn't care if they got an extension at all. They weren't even going to show up (so why should I--bad idea? perhaps). I understand that they will go through the process all over again.

We really need to keep an eye on this so that any NEW plans for the area don't undo what was agreed to in the past. I have grave worries. Of course, one of the things they won't have to worry about is getting a demolition permit to tear down two blocks of buildings dating from the 1880s to 1920s. That one's been taken care of already. And Pomona gets vacant lots for at least the next couple of years.

I was told that they are planning an Iron Fence for around the 200 block "hole in the ground." that will include panels upon which local artists can paint murals (an idea that came out of the downtown business owners association (DPOA--better known to most of us as "Metro Pomona"). So Mickey Gallivan was right! We'll see years of vacant lots in exchange for destroying our history.

Watt, Me Worry?--UPDATED

photo by Richard E. Nunez

It's coming up again, maybe? The Pomona Planning Commission is now down to 3 members (according to the agenda--although I know that Paula Lantz's commissioner was just appointed, so why is he off if Paula's new term hasn't even started?) Tim Saunders (who has expressed a desire to be appointed councilperson from the 5th District), Arturo Jimenez, and Andrew Santa Cruz. UPDATE: Evidently, Paula Lantz's commissioner needs to be sworn in again and couldn't be until Paula was sworn in. I spoke with her this evening and she was sworn in this afternoon and Ed Starr (her Planning Commissioner), should be sworn in prior to the meeting and will be able to participate. I'm not sure how quorums work with only three members on a panel that should have 7 members). In the past, the quorum was based either on the number of current members OR the number of members that are supposed to be on the panel. I'm not really sure where that was left off. At one point you could have a quorum with three, but you needed four votes to pass anything. I'm sure that the city attorneys will be busy working on that one.

And all this just in time to take on the issue of the extension of the CUP (Conditional Use Permit) for the Watt Project on West Second St. You can read the agenda on the city's web site. I know I'll be there (if the meeting actually takes place) to let them know that something needs to be done about the vacant lots (and hole in the ground) and that we need to not allow changes to occur to the originally approved plan without scrutiny by the commission and the community (as was done with the Mission Promenade project). NO "VALUE ENGINEERING!!!"

Also on the agenda is the approval of a CUP for a major expansion of Cocoa Palms restaurant (the one on the hill on Fairplex Drive), and a meeting hall on Park Ave (next to the Pomona Fish Market) for the Black Knightz Motorcycle Club, among others.

So, if you're going to be downtown for the Chamber of Commerce Mixer for the new mayor, new council, and new assemblywoman, (hosted by the Pomona Chamber of Commerce, Cal Poly Downtown Center, Pomona Fairplex, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona Valley Hospital, and Arteco Partners--5:00-7:00 pm at the Cal-Poly Downtown Center) why not stop by the council chambers for what could be an interesting Planning Commission meeting. And if you're at the Mixer, be sure to make suggestions as to future commissioners to the corresponding councilmembers.

Pomona Photos Survive

A couple of days ago I was aghast when I learned that Ren's Corner had disappeared from the blogosphere. Ren has been providing photos to Goddess of Pomona's site, Pomona Heritage, and Historical Society of the Pomona Valley for most of the past year, so having his blog disappear was disconcerting.

Fortunately, I had his email address and was able to contact him regarding what happened. He and I met yesterday at dba257 (my first meeting with him in person) and I learned what happened. Ren (actually Richard E. Nunez) has some health issues which were being negatively impacted by his working on the computer. The repetitive motion was causing his arms to go numb and he decided that he could no longer maintain the blog. Rather than just let it go dormant as other bloggers do, he was concerned that if it was there that he'd feel compelled to continue to post. So, he unceremoniously shut it down.

However, fear not. He has decided that he can still post his photographs, minus the commentary and it wouldn't cause him health problems. He has created a new blog called Images of Pomona. This blog is dedicated to documenting the things that Ren sees around town. It's only been up for a few days and he already has 83 (and counting) images posted. They cover the gamut from the construction at the Fox, the chalk art on 2nd St., The "swimming pool" that is the Watt project, to a lot of wonderful images of various buildings and things around the city. If you have a chance, take a look at Ren's new home. I, for one, am just happy that he's out there contributing what he can.

Watt's Goin' On?

Metro Pomona, our downtown cheerleading blog (that's not a derogatory statement, we need someone to cheerlead downtown and Metro does a great job of doing so), has posted the most negative item I've ever seen there. The blog post at www.metropomona.com/whatsnew/2008/09/artisan.html tells that the Artisan project in downtown (remember the demolition of two blocks of East Second St.?) has been removed from the Watt website and, with the yellow tagging of the Vault building, we now have a full 3 blocks of chain link fencing.

I said I'd wait until the first of the year to say "I told you so," but it has become much more obvious lately that the project, which was fast tracked, has now been delayed until ????? So we get to look at chain link fencing and a big hole for how long?