Citizens Bank Purchased | South Pasadenan Weekly Update

The Kutzer Company purchases the property at Citizens Bank with plans to develop it into a multi-tenant building and other local updates

The Kutzer Company in South Pasadena recently purchased the property at Citizens Bank and plans to develop it into a multi-tenant building.

Resident Pete Kutzer has purchased the Citizen Business Bank building at the corner of Mission Street and Fair Oaks Boulevard in South Pasadena and, according to Kris Morrish, a member of the city’s Planning Commission and an employee at Kutzer Property Management, the property looks to sub-divide into five different tenants.

“It could become a multi-tenant building,” explained Morrish.

Steve Dahl is the architect on the new plans for a restaurant, including outdoor dining, and other small shops.

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The eatery being proposed calls for “a coffee, kind of bakery type tenant and retail space and hopefully some portions of Citizens Bank,” Morrish said. “He’s [Kutzer] hoping the bank will stay. It needs a much smaller footprint. It doesn’t need that whole building now.”

Morrish said Kutzer hopes to have the project finished in the calendar year 2019.

The Kutzer Company is at 716 Mission Street in the city. According to the firm’s website, the Kutzer Company (“TKC”), founded in Los Angeles by Pete Kutzer in 1992, is a real estate investment management company, which manages approximately 1 million square feet of commercial property.

“TKC is dedicated to providing the highest quality real estate management services available to property investors in California,” Kutzer wrote on the website. “We have developed a proven track record in helping investors and clients make and manage successful, long-term real estate investments.

The firm has formed, noted on the website, strong relationships with T-Mobile, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, AT&T, Bristol Farms, Fresh & Easy, Cal National Bank, Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, and ING.

Kutzer, a Cal Berkeley graduate, has been a longtime resident of South Pasadena and active in the community over the years.

In other Planning Commission news:

A question before the city’s Planning Commission this week was whether Mosaic Church inside the Rialto Theatre could modify the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to remove quarterly reporting to the governmental body.

The Planning Commission approved the request.

“There’s still a CUP in place,” explained Chamber of Commerce President Laurie Wheeler. “It was just modified to removed that section.”

One noise complaint regarding the church was filed with the city, according to Wheeler.

Active Shooter Preparedness

Nearly 30 individuals turned out for an active shooter preparedness training session on Wednesday, December 19, at Holy Family Catholic Church. Educators and parishioners were invited to hear what actions are necessary should an active shooter incident take place at churches in the community.

Fire Departments Work Together

South Pasadena and San Marino Fire Departments are continuing to work well together, sharing personnel.

At one point, South Pasadena, San Marino and San Gabriel departments worked together in a tri-city agreement but San Gabriel dropped out. “It’s working out great,” said Kris Saxon, a captain with the South Pasadena. “Our two departments have really gotten along very well.”

Each department have roughly 20 personnel and share division chiefs.

Holiday Cheer at Senior Center

About 35 gift bags will be delivered to seniors around town this holiday season as part of the Senior Center’s “Holiday Cheer Program.”

Donated cookies, candy and gift cards will bring a smile to those receiving the gifts.

Senior Commission Commissioners will make the deliveries.

About $1,000 in gift cards were collected. The cards will be included with a handful of the tasty treats.

Fun at the Movies Saturday

O Saturday, December 22, at 2 p.m. a screening “Elf” will be held at Mosaic Church inside the Rialto Theatre on Fair Oaks Avenue. Interactive activities for kids are being planned.

Increase in Dial-a-Ride Use Up

Sheila Pautsch, the city community service director, said ridership on South Pasadena’s Dial-a-Ride Program grew to more than 1,000 rides in October compared to 736 in 2017. She information was announced during the December 18 Senior Commission Meeting. Commissioners will next meet on January 9.

Winter Break Camps Held

While students are taking a break from school, the City of South Pasadena’s Community Services Department is offering winter specialty camps the week of December 26 and January 2. The first week, children will explore Winter Wonderland Engineering with Legos, followed by Minecraft Adventure Game with Legos. Morning session runs from 9 a.m – 12:00pm and the afternoon session will be offered from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Cost is $98 per camper per class. For more information, call (626) 403-7380.

Snow Day in January

The Community Services Department is hosting the fourth annual Snow Day event on Saturday,January 19, 2019 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Garfield Park, 1000 Park Avenue. There will be sled runs, a snow play area, a sled area for younger kids as well as a Tot Land area. Refreshments will be sold on site.

Wristbands vouchers may be purchased here , pre-sale tickets are $10, and $15 the day of the event. There will be 4-45 minute sessions starting at 10:00 a.m., which can be selected online at the time of purchase. Each wristband is good for 45 minutes of access to snow play and sled runs.

For further questions, contact the Recreation Office at (626) 403-7380.

Clean Power Alliance

The Clean Power Alliance (CPA) is California’s new, locally operated electricity provider for communities across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. The CPA’s program objective is to provide options for a higher level of renewable energy content at competitive rates. The CPA purchases energy on behalf of its member agencies where energy is procured from mostly non-polluting, clean and renewable sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power (no coal or nuclear power).

The City Council has set the default energy mix for South Pasadena at 100% Renewable/GHG Free (for residential customers, effective February 2019). Customers will still be able to opt in at their preferred energy mix options offered by the CPA. The CPA will provide four written notices to customers when beginning service so that you can make informed decisions regarding the type of electricity you want. Southern California Edison continues to deliver power, read electric meter, send monthly bill, and provide the same maintenance and other services.

The City of South Pasadena contributed to this article.