On October 11, 2022, it was announced that Nuccio’s Nursery on Chaney Trail will wind down operations in the next two to three years and that Polytechnic School will take ‘stewardship’ of the 78-acre property in the northern Altadena foothills. The announcement was made in a joint letter from the Nuccio family and the private Pasadena school, and in a letter issued to the Poly community by the school.  After nearly 90 years of operations, the world-famous azalea and camellia nursery will be replaced by a Polytechnic satellite campus and athletic facilities.  

Poly will host a “neighborhood gathering” at a date and time yet to be announced, during which attendees may ask questions. While detailed development plans have not yet been revealed, Poly has stated that new construction at the Altadena foothills site will be within the same “general footprint” of the current 13-acre nursery. It can be expected that Poly will reveal more details about their development and operations of a satellite campus at the community meeting.  You are encouraged to join an email list so that Altadena Wild can keep you informed of major developments and the details of the community meeting.

If the proposed Poly foothills expansion plans are approved by Los Angeles County, these developments will increase the risks to public safety and dramatically change the character of a semi-rural area adjacent to the Angeles National Forest.  The Poly developments will:

INCREASE THE DENSITY OF PEOPLE in a very high-risk fire zone

The entire development site is part of a State-designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ).  Numerous wildfires have occurred recently in the surrounding areas, including the devastating 2009 Station fire. The current nursery employs only a handful of people, and the number of on-site customers is typically in the single digits. Any satellite school campus will add many dozens to hundreds of staff/students on a typical day. Sports events would add many hundreds of people -- and potentially more than a thousand – in a VHFHSZ.

INCREASE WILDFIRE RISKS in surrounding neighborhoods where residents are accustomed to practicing a culture of wildfire safety

Polytechnic staff and students will be coming from an urbanized home and school environment, where the imminent threat of brushfires and wildfires is minimal. In contrast, neighbors in the Altadena foothills (and visiting recreationists) live with fire threats year-round and are accustomed to practicing safe outdoor behaviors. A large infusion of students in a VHFHSZ will likely increase the prevalence of unsafe practices, including fireworks, smoking, and high-speed vehicles on a narrow and hilly Chaney Trail.

INCREASE TRAFFIC on Chaney Trail, Loma Alta Drive, and on major north-south routes from Pasadena to northern Altadena

A satellite school along Chaney Trail will potentially hundreds of vehicles daily to a narrow and hilly road incapable of supporting the increased traffic. The impacts will extend to the connecting east-west Loma Alta Drive, to major north-south streets in Altadena (including Lincoln, Fair Oaks, Lake, and Marengo Avenues), and to connecting east-west streets (including Altadena Drive). In northern Altadena, these roads are generally two lanes only, with many stop signs. Traffic back-ups are likely at peak periods, as Poly staff/students travel to and from the satellite campus. The stalled traffic will be even worse as people travel to and from athletic events on Chaney Trail.

INCREASE THE RISKS OF ACCIDENTS involving vehicles and hikers/cyclists/equestrian riders on Chaney Trail and Loma Alta Drive

The only public road to the proposed development site is Chaney Trail, a hilly and winding ‘dead-end’ road that extends from Loma Alta Drive to Millard Campground and National Forest trails. Chaney Trail -- already a dangerous road for hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians – is only seventeen feet wide at the junction with Loma Alta Drive, with steep embankments forming the road shoulders. A significant influx of Poly staff, students, and athletic event attendees will dramatically increase the risks of accidents along Chaney Trail and Loma Alta Drive.

NEGATIVELY IMPACT WILDLIFE AND MIGRATION in the surrounding foothills and in Angeles National Forest

The Polytechnic School development of the nursery site will dramatically impact the native wildlife and associated migration corridors – even if the school restricts new buildings and facilities to the current 13-acre nursery footprint. There can be no doubt that the remaining 65 acres of the purchased properties will be impacted by the creation of a satellite school and athletic facilities in the northern Altadena foothills. Owls, hawks, quail, bobcats, deer, gray foxes, and black bears are among the wildlife that will be disrupted in these chaparral wildlands.

CREATE NOISE AND LIGHT POLLUTION in the surrounding foothills and forest

The Poly plans for the construction of a satellite campus and athletic facilities will add significant noise and light pollution to the surrounding neighborhoods, San Gabriel Mountain foothills, and the Angeles National Forest. The noise pollution will be extensive during the construction phase of the development, and will routinely exist after the completion of the facilities, especially for outdoor athletic events such as football games. Any lighting will dramatically increase light pollution well beyond any levels associated with the current nursery. The enhanced lighting will occur adjacent to a County-designated Rural Outdoor Lighting District intended to conserve and appreciate dark skies.

Polytechnic Foothills Acquisition

outlined in yellow, green denotes current boundary with Angeles National Forest

 

• The development site is in a State-designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone
• The property adjoins the Angeles National Forest
• 80% of the property is within the Altadena Foothills and Arroyos Significant Ecological Area
• 70% of the property falls within County-designated Hillside Management Areas
• The property contains five County-designated Significant Ridgelines
• The property contains seasonal streams that drain into Arroyo Seco
• The property is home to flora and fauna rich in biodiversity
• The property is part of vital wildlife migration corridors

 

Community Wildfire Protection Ordinance (CWPO)

In early 2023, the Los Angeles County Code will be amended by the County Board of Supervisors to include the recently drafted and reviewed County Wildfire Protection Ordinance (CWPO). The CWPO will amend Title 21 and Title 22 of the County Code land use standards to reduce wildfire risk for developments located within State-designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ).  Note that the entire property acquired by Polytechnic School in the Altadena foothills falls within a VHFHSZ.

[VHFHSZ map courtesy of L.A. County ARC-GIS]

The CWPO will “require that development in the VHFHSZ provides adequate and safe emergency evacuation routes, does not increase development density or intensity, and does not increase wildfire risk for existing communities.”

A Polytechnic satellite campus and athletic facilities on Chaney Trail in the Altadena foothills will likely violate all three of these requirements.

• Evacuation Route
  Chaney Trail is the only public road with access to the development site. It is the sole vehicle evacuation route for the residents of Chaney Trail, Leilani Way, Alzada Road, Jaxine Drive, and homes in the National Forest. The paved roadway surface is only 17 feet wide between the steep shoulders at its junction with Loma Alta Drive. A Polytechnic satellite campus will add many vehicles to an already narrow and hilly road, compromising the safety of residents, recreationists, and school students/staff.

 

• Density/Intensity
  A Poly satellite school and athletic facilities will unquestionably increase the density of people and the intensity of activity beyond the current nursery and adjoining wildlands. Daily school activities will add many dozens to hundreds of people beyond the handful of employees and customers onsite at Nuccio’s Nursery. Special/athletic events will add hundreds – to potentially thousands – of people to the property.

 

• Wildfire Risk
  The Polytechnic plans will increase the risk of wildfires in a VHFHSZ. The surrounding neighborhoods are populated with people accustomed to living in a semi-rural environment who routinely practice safe fire behaviors – every day of the year. The risk of fires from smoking, speeding cars, and fireworks from urban visitors is a constant threat to the nearby residents and to the Altadena foothills.

Altadena Community Standards District (CSD)

Polytechnic School has purchased parcels of land comprising 1.44% of the land area of Altadena. Within this property, the private Pasadena school plans to build a satellite campus and athletic facilities in the Altadena foothills adjacent to the Angeles National Forest.

Ordinances governing the Altadena Community Standards District are integrated as Section 22.306 of the Los Angeles County Code. The Altadena CSD “is established to ensure that new and expanded structures are compatible in size and scale with the characteristics of surrounding residential neighborhoods, protecting the light, air, and privacy of existing single-family residences from negative impacts while providing certain flexibility within residential areas.”

The Poly development plans will be incompatible with the semi-rural characteristics of surrounding neighborhoods and will produce many negative impacts in the surrounding foothills. A satellite campus and athletic facilities will increase wildfire and public safety risks, introduce significant impacts on wildlife and their migration corridors, and increase noise and light pollution. The plans are clearly incommensurate with the intent and the ordinances in the Altadena CSD.

Sign our Petition

If you are opposed to the Polytechnic School’s plans to construct a satellite campus and athletic facilities in the northern Altadena foothills, sign this online petition. The petition will be presented to key entities involved in the Los Angeles County review/decision process, including the: Altadena Town Council, the L.A. County Department of Regional Planning, and the L.A. County Regional Planning Commission.

Petition

We, the undersigned, OPPOSE the plans by Polytechnic School in Pasadena to build a satellite campus and athletic facilities in the northern Altadena foothills. The proposed development site is adjacent to the Angeles National Forest and located within a California-designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The plans to build new school facilities will increase the risks to public safety for recreationists using Chaney Trail and connecting streets, residents of nearby neighborhoods, and Polytechnic staff and students. The developments are incommensurate with the newly drafted Los Angeles County Community Wildfire Protection Ordinance and are in conflict with the ordinances contained in the Altadena Community Standards District.

This development will impact the quality of life for all Altadenans.