Sierra Madre Says Thanks To Our Veterans.....Page 2

 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2020 

VOLUME 14 NO. 46VOLUME 14 NO. 46

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CONTINUING THE 
LEGACY….GEM 
PLUMBING

 Sierra Madre is a town that cherishes traditions in every aspect 
of its existence. The town cherishes its citizens, past and present, 
its landmarks great and small, famous and infamous, and equally 
as important, its businesses, especially those who have served the 
community for decades with excellence and integrity.

 GEM Plumbing is one such business. Originally established in 
the 1940’s by Earl Moyer and purchased in 1956 by Hal Jordan 
who entered into a partnership with Gordon Caldwell in 1956, 
the business continues uninterrupted operations for more than 64 
years. In 1995, after Hal’s and Gordon’s retirement, Gordon sold 
the business to its top two employees, Dave Pedroza and Marc Van 
Cleave. Both had been employees at GEM for more than a decade. 

 For the next 25 years, this dynamic duo continued in the tradition 
of the previous owners, not only providing customers with 
outstanding service, but also contributing to the community by 
volunteering and/or sponsoring numerous activities. 

Prior to COVID 19, if you attended the Huck Finn Fishing Derby or 
the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast or the Wistaria Festival, you would 
find Dave and Marc up very early, hard at work. Officers in the 
Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club, Marc is probably best known as the ‘top 
chef’ at the organization’s annual pancake breakfast. Dave served 
as the advisor to the Kiwanis sponsored Arcadia High School Key 
Club and ‘bartender’ at the Boot Skootin’ Dance that helps fund 
youth activities in Sierra Madre. 

 In 2018, GEM PLUMBING was awarded the Business of the Year 
Award by the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce.

 Now, after 33 years, Dave Pedroza will be retiring but the legacy 
will continue. Marc Van Cleave will take over as the company’s 
RMO. However, “nothing will change, we will continue to provide 
the best possible service to our customers and community”. His key 
personnel team includes several employees with decades of service 
at GEM.

Gem’s motto, “We Can Do It All”, is the perfect moniker for the 
company. They are experts at Heating and Air Conditioning and 
every aspect of plumbing including drain and sewer cleaning etc. 
During the city’s water quality crisis, their vehicles could be seen 
just about everywhere. Currently the company has 15 employees, a 
fleet of 11 trucks.

And, based on the company’s commitment to their hometown 
of Sierra Madre, you can look forward to continued outstanding 
professional service and support of the community at large. 

S.Henderson/MVNews

PARKING RESTRICTIONS TO BE EASED

By Kevin McGuire

The City of Sierra Madre will 
benefit from relaxed parking 
requirements and regulations 
thanks to the efforts of the 
Planning Commission working 
with City Council to amend 
the current Municipal Code. 

Resolution 20-13, which was 
amended by the Planning 
Commission on November 5, 
2020, was pulled from the agenda 
on October 27, 2020 for discussion 
and revisions. The amendments 
include revised calculations of 
parking spaces, relief from required 
parking in connection with the 
reuse of existing structures and 
the elimination of the proposed 
in-lieu fee parking program. In 
addition, City Council wanted 
to ease parking requirements 
in Commercial Zones and help 
to new businesses wanting to 
relocate to Sierra Madre by 
reducing parking regulations, and 
reducing costs and bureaucracy.

The plan would require all new 
development and residential 
development provide sufficient off-
street parking. It would also support 
General Plan policies including: 

•Encouragingthe 
enhancement of rear entrances 
to existing businesses. 
•Requiring that new
construction adjacent to a
parking area be designed to
have access from the parking
are as well as the street.
•Identifying opportunities
to improve pedestrian access 
from public parking areas to 
commercial uses, particularly 
the access from the parking 
lot on Mariposa Avenue to the 
commercial uses on the south 
side of Sierra Madre Boulevard. 
•Improving directional 
signage and develop educational 
materials to encourage the use 
of available public parking. 
•Encouraging office 
and technology uses 
without displacing retail.
•In order to increase
daytime demand for City retail,
providing incentives for the
location or service retail, office
and other commercial uses
above and/or behind street-
facing, ground-floor retail.


The City Council passed the 
parking resolution unanimously 
during another outdoor meeting 
on a brisk November 10th 
meeting under the stars. The 
agreement between the Planning 
Commission and City Council 
is a welcomed one after a few 
heated exchanges between the 
two assemblies surfaced on a 
few occasions in a tough 2020. 


SIERRA MADRE MOVES FORWARD 
ON DOWNTOWN REDISTRICTING

By Kevin McGuire

The city has taken another step 
to moving forward with the 
redistricting of the Downtown 
area of Sierra Madre after 
passing a series of resolutions 
during a public hearing on 
Tuesday November 10. 

The unanimous approval by 
City Council paves the way for 
proceedings to begin for the 
formation of a new Downtown 
Landscaping Lighting
Maintenance District and the 
approval of the engineer’s report 
for the new district. 

A public hearing is set to be 
held on the matter on January 
12, 2021 and an order of the 
initiation of assessment ballot 
proceedings will take place. 
Ballots will be mailed to 
property owners prior to the 
public hearing. Owners will 
have the chance to vote for or 
against the district at that time. 

The City currently has four 
special assessment districts 
dedicated to fund the 
improvement of the Downtown 
area including lighting, 
landscaping and parking 
maintenance. Unfortunately, 
two of those set districts do 
not collect enough money to 
handle needed repairs and are 
subsidized by expenditures 
from the General Fund. On 
the other hand, the other two 
districts collect more revenue 
and produced a surplus of 
$697,282 in fiscal year 19/20.

So, it became the goal of City 
Council to balance the amount 
of revenue collected between 
these districts. Adding a 
new Landscaping Lighting 
Maintenance District will help 
pay for landscaping and lighting 
repairs to Downtown. If the 
new district is successful, the 
surplus will be used to discount 
assessment amounts for the first 
two years of the new levy. This 
will be set to easy the burden on 
business owners impacted by 
COVID-19. 

The biggest benefit of the district 
for the city would be that they 
would no longer depend on 
dipping into the General Fund 
for repairs and maintenance. 
The saved funds are intended 
to be used for the revitalization 
project of the Downtown area. 

Copies of the full report are 
made available at the City 
Hall public counter, the Public 
Library and on the city website 
at cityofsierramadre.com. 

Above, Marc (top right) and Dave (bottom right) in 1995. Below, Marc 
(left) and Dave receiving recognition for their community service