Sierra Madre At It’s Best......Celebrating America’s Birthday Page 3 


SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2016 
VOLUME 10 NO. 28 
SIERRA MADRE - A TRUE ALL AMERICAN CITY CELEBRATES JULY 4TH 



Above, Mayor Gene Goss and Sierra Madre’s First Family. Above left, the beginning of 
the 2017 Sierra Madre Rose Float entry complete with Princesses. Photos by Bill Coburn 


COUNCIL TO DISCUSS VACANT PROPERTY 
MAINTENANCE STANDARDS 

On Tuesday, July 12th, the Sierra Madre City 
Council will address the concerns that have been 
expressed by residents over vacant houses in the 
city. In May, several residents on W. Alegria 
came before the council regarding, as stated in 
the staff report cited here, ”a prevalence of vacant 
residential properties in the City that have been 
purchased by investors. The issue is when such 
properties remain vacant for extensive periods of 
time as to become unsightly or in such condition 
of deterioration or disrepair that the property 
could potentially cause depreciation of property 
values of surrounding homes. 

Based on complaints from residents, staffidentified seven known vacant properties in the 
City and opened code enforcement cases for each. 
With the exception of four properties pending 
code enforcement action or pending plan check 
approval, property owners have been responsive 
to code enforcement requests to abate overgrown 
vegetation, accumulation of debris, and to secure 
the property from vandalism. Staff will continue 
to monitor and enforce existing and new cases 
as they arise. 

In response to City Council's request, staff is 
providing this report highlighting the City's 
code enforcement procedures as stipulated in 

residential neighborhoods and commercial areasfrom becoming blighted through the lack ofadequate maintenance and/or security of vacantproperties. The Commission reviewed the modelused by the City of Norwalk, California attachedherein as Exhibit B. 

The Planning Commission discussed the 
establishment of a new ordinance to require 
property owners to register a property withthe City in the event the property will not beoccupied or rented. One option is to requirethe property owner to notify the city within 90days of acquiring the property that it will not beoccupied. The wait period is to allow adequatetime for recordation of the property at the LosAngeles County Registrar Recorder’s Office. Staffwill also need to establish an appropriate fee toaccount for the cost to enforce the ordinance. 
After discussing this matter, the PlanningCommission did not take any action to establisha vacant property registration program. 

Code Enforcement Procedures 

Over the years, the City has taken a reactiveapproach to code enforcement, primarily due tolimited enforcement staffing, only respondingto complaints brought to the attention of

Title 8 in the Health and Safety Code to inform a 
discussion regarding the potential establishment 
of a vacant property registration program. 
Vacant Property Registration Program 
Vacant property nuisances are not widespreadthroughout Sierra Madre communities. Out of atotal of 3,877 single family homes in the City, onlyseven have been brought to the attention of staff.
These seven properties represent a fraction of onepercent of the total housing units in the City. 
At the February 18, 2016 meeting, the PlanningCommission discussed the option to establish 
more stringent code provisions requiringvacant property to be registered with the City.
The Commission discussed the creation of a 
registration program as a mechanism to protect 
staff. While this practice is continued, code 
enforcement activity is significantly increasing,
placing an additional burden on staff resources.
Code enforcement was staffed with one part-
time position, which offered challenges inresponding to new cases and follow-up onexisting enforcement actions (the recruitmentis currently being conducted for a full-timeCode Enforcement Officer). Nevertheless, staff isoffering a high-level of response time to reportedcomplaints. Compliance by property owners isoften not so forthcoming and requires multiplesite visits, courtesy notices, and issuance ofcitations. This information is entered into a 
detailed code enforcement log for each case whichhas multiple entries for site visits and courtesynotices issued for non-compliance.” 
Council will review the matter on July 12th. 
LA County 
S u p e r v i s o r 
M i c h a e l 
A n t on ov i c h ,
Sierra Madre 
Citizens of the 
Year, Clem and 
Nine Bartolai 
and U.S. 
CongresswomanJudy Chu were 
among the 
dignataries that 
pa r t i c i pa te din the parade. 
(Photos by Dean 
Lee/MVNews) 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com