SIERRA MADRE EDITION

 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 50

SIERRA MADRE CANDLELIGHT WALK
Sunday, December 23rd 7:00 PM

SHARED MOBILITY DEVICES: 

THE GROWING MENACE


It’s the latest thing, but to Sierra Madre residents, 
along with much of the San Gabriel Valley and 
beyond, it’s not the greatest thing. Shared mobility 
devices, such as scooters and bikes, are scattered 
across the valley, discarded on sidewalks, parks and 
parking lots like stolen shopping carts—they are 
under-regulated and growing by numbers. 

During the City Council meeting on December 
11, the city took the first step in getting ahead of 
this proliferation by prohibiting the abandonment 
of these mobility devices in the public right-of-
way, on public property and barring the trendy 
transportation form offered for use in Sierra Madre. 
In other words, if someone logs on to their app for 
a Bird scooter (pictured below) or Lime bike and 
picks up their transport in Pasadena, they can’t 
dump it in Sierra Madre. And, if they do happen to 
escape the law, and discard their device in the city, 
a new customer is prohibited from recovering the 
wheeled vehicle and riding off. 

Out of concern, preventing such actions is the 
targeted intention of Urgency Ordinance No. 1407-
U. How to enforce this may be as tricky as catching 
one of these speedsters gliding down Baldwin Ave. 
on a motorized scooter. That’s why City Council 
wants to study the relevant arguments on both sides 
of this issue. On one hand, using a bike or a scooter 
can help reduce motor vehicle congestion on the 
roads, yet on the other hand, cities are bombarded 
with safety concerns, the pile up of mobility devices 
on sidewalks causing clutter and welfare concerns, 
and the growing amount of companies putting out 
such devices with few regulations and no concern 
for the discarding of scooters/bikes or public safety. 
Some of these companies lack the proper contracts, 
permits and business licenses as well.

The California Vehicle Code (CVC) does set some 
regulations for motorized scooters. They are not 
supposed to be operated on streets with a speed 
limit over 25 MPH. Operators should wear safety 
helmets. Minors without driver’s license and 
instruction permit are prohibited. And, they should 
not be driven on sidewalks. Just to name a few. 

For 45 days, these vehicles can be operated in Sierra 
Madre, but not abandoned or offered for use. City 
staff will revisit this item in the future and decide if 
a permanent ban in in order. 

Kevin McGuire/MVNews


More than forty years ago two wise visionaries, 
Pastor Bob VanderZaag and Pastor Richard 
Anderson “Dick,” felt their community deserved 
a momentous celebration. Maybe they both saw 
the beauty in the small towns that had gathered 
their people together in those many snow filled 
landscapes, huddling meekly in simple rooms, 
where a lone fireplace lent its heat. It was not lost 
on these two Pastors that it was not the splendor 
of the place that mattered but the people 
gathering together that created the collective 
depth to inspire the Spirit of Christmas.

In the Big City, the granting of ones personal space 
and privacy is considered a social politeness. That 
is predictable and understandable. It has remained 
our great fortune that two Pastors understood the 
Social Contract but also understood the human 
heart with a perceptive intuition, and so they did 
not accept the predictable and understandable.



In an age of power grids and lavish displays of 
electricity, we have not stolen away the charm 
of candlelight. It remains eternal in its ability to 
inspire reverence, ever vigil in touching our heart 
in its simple and artistic beauty. So it is fitting that 
the light of a star that once guided Three Magi to 
a baby. Has been commemorated in a candlelight 
that guides a community to Christmas.

The Sierra Madre event has commenced in the 
same manner for forty plus years, at the steps of 
Saint Rita Catholic Church. The silence of the 
night is broken in the glorious notes of Christmas 
song. As the gathering people amass at Saint 
Rita’s Church, they begin to light the candles 
within their hand. For those that wait below at 
the bottom of the street, the sea of lights begins its 
slow, picturesque descent down Baldwin Avenue 
until they arrive at Kersting Court. As scripture 
passages are read and the notes of Christmas 
hymns swirl around the nativity scene. 

It is exactly as Linus, instructed Charlie Brown 
on the true meaning of Christmas. For each year 
two local children become Joseph and Mary and 
carry the statue of the baby Jesus and place the 
statue of Jesus in the crèche.

If you desire to touch the true spirit of 
Christmas, there is no finer place to discover 
its heartwarming tones of the season than The 
Sierra Madre Candlelight Walk.

This year's event: Sunday, Dec. 23, 7:00pm. Walk 
begins at St. Rita's Church on N. Baldwin, Sierra 
Madre.

Original story submitted by Craig Hakola; 

Photo Mountain Views News Archives

CITY PREPARES FOR BAN LIFT ON 

SIDEWALK VENDORS

SIERRA MADRE HOLIDAY PARKING 
SCHEDULE Christmas/New Year’s Holidays

Please be advised that beginning at 2:00AM on Saturday, December 15th, 2018 
there will be a City wide exemption for parking related to Permit Parking and 
Overnight Parking. This Exemption will extend until 2:00AM on Wednesday, 
January 2nd, 2019, in observance of the Holiday Season. Please note that 
safety violations related to parking will be enforced 24/7.

There will be Officers staffing the SMPD, 24/7 to handle enforceable parking 
issues and safety violations during these times.

***SAFETY VIOLATIONS*** (e.g. Red Zones, White Zones, Blue Zones, parking violations obstruction 
egress/ingress to the roadway or sidewalk).


City Council adopted an Urgency Ordinance 
amending sections of a Municipal Code Tax 
Amendment focusing on “unlawful parking by 
peddlers and vendors” and “outdoor dining” in 
the city, during a public hearing on the subject on 
December 11.

 The recommended changes come as a result 
of Senate Bill 946 (SB 946), signed by Governor 
Brown on September 17, 2018, which essentially 
decriminalizes sidewalk vending and limits local 
regulations, while creating a new outline for 
regulating “sidewalk vendors” on public property. 

Sierra Madre’s Municipal Code does not currently 
regulate sidewalk vendors, at least as it’s defined in 
the Bill, but it does control “peddlers” which falls 
into the same category. Vincent Gonzalez, the 
Planning and Community Preservation Director, 
gave a presentation and suggested direction to the 
Council recommending adjusting two sections 
of the Code and adding a new section prior to 
Governor Brown’s Bill going into effect on January 
1, 2019. 

 Section 10.24.100 of the Municipal Code which 
covers “Unlawful parking by peddlers and vendors” 
would need amending to remove the prohibition 
of sidewalk vending from the code section. In 
addition, Section 12.12.050 dealing with “Outdoor 
dining” would be changed to “Outdoor dining 
attached to a fixed place of business,” and a new 
section, “Sidewalk vendors and peddlers,” would be 
added and listed as Section 12.12.055.

A “sidewalk vendor” is defined as someone who 
sells food, beverages, or merchandise from non-
motorized conveyances or from his or her person 
from the public sidewalk or other pedestrian path. 
This can include pushcarts, stands, wagons and 
racks and be in a fixed location, or roaming. 

 As of January 1, 2019, local governments in 
California cannot ban sidewalk vending outright. 
This means Sierra Madre can no longer: 

 - Require vendors to operate within specific 
parts of the public sidewalk or pedestrian path

 - Prohibit the selling of food or merchandise in 
parks.

 - Require a sidewalk vendor obtain consent or 
approval from a nongovernmental entity before 
selling food or merchandise.

 - Restrict vendors to designated neighborhoods 
or other areas, and 

 - Restrict the overall number of sidewalk vendors 
permitted to operate in the area. 

 What the city can do is impose regulations as 
they relate to health, safety, welfare concerns, 
time, place and manner in which sidewalk 
vending takes place. This can include restricting 
hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., requiring maintenance 
or sanitary conditions such as hairnets and gloves, 
complying with disability access standards, 
and require permits/licenses. The city can also 
enforce background checks on vendors, prohibit 
stationary vendors in residential neighborhoods, 
set a 500-foot distance requirement in relation to 
farmer’s markets, swap meets and festivals, and 
limit noise coming from vendors carts, racks etc. 

Generally, sidewalk vendors are not seen within 
Sierra Madre, but there is concern that the city 
would not be able stop a vendor from selling coffee 
in front of Bean Town, or tacos in front of Tacos 
Ensenada. In other words, longtime established 
businesses have little protection from vendors 
selling competing food or beverage items. Yet, 
temporary use permit events, such as swap meets, 
would have more protections from vendors who 
would need to set up at least 500 feet from their 
events. Moreover, area sidewalks are barely narrow 
enough for pedestrians without carts in place, 
which is another concern expressed by Mayor 
Denise Delmar. 

 No residents spoke for or against the vendors 
and the general feeling among Council Members 
is that requirements and regulations would make 
it too much of a hassle for most vendors to bear. 
The Ordinance required four-fifths of City Council 
votes, which it received, with one small revision 
required to number 5 of the General Regulations; 
the removal of the word “No” from the beginning 
of the sentence. K. McGuire/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