Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 17, 2021

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 17, 2021 

SINGLE FAMILY 
ZONING 
UNDER ATTACK BY 
SACRAMENTO 

The Preserve Sierra Madre Committee has 
been following two very destructive bills that 
have been going through the California Legislature. 
SB9 and SB10 promise to cause havoc 
to all cities in California - big and small. 
These two bills will literally obliterate all R-1 
housing restrictions. This means no single family 
zoning. All local zoning laws as we know them 
will be thrown out the window. These developer-
friendly bills will allow large apartment complex 
buildings in residential neighborhoods without 
exception with no way for our Planning Department, 
Planning Commission, General Plan or City 
Council to stop their construction. 

 These bills will ruin neighborhoods and families. 
They dismantle our environmental protections and 
allow building in high fire zones. SB9 will allow a 
single family home to be torn down and replaced 
with 4 units. SB10 will allow developers to tear 
down a single family home and replace it with a 10 
unit apartment without local review or input. Our 
neighborhoods and communities as we know and 
love them will be changed forever. Imagine, if 
these two bills get passed, your next-door neighbor 
in a residential neighborhood selling their 
home to a developer and then having a multifamily 
unit built next door - with no way to stop the 
construction. 

The Steering Committee of Preserve Sierra Madre 
has decided in the best interest of our beloved Sierra 
Madre to join United Neighbors, a coalition of 
neighborhood residential groups throughout California. 
Their goal is to protect single-family neighborhoods 
while supporting affordable and equitable 
housing for all. They urge all homeowners 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 
by Deanne Davis 
No time to grieve for roseswhen the forests are burning.”
Zbigniew Herbert 
Many thanks to Tim Maciasfor posting this great picture.
Yes, indeed, Prayers for safetravels and a safe return 
home as our Sierra Madre 
Firefighters aboard Water 
Tender 41 have been assigned 
to the Beckwourth complexfires burning 50 miles 
northwest of Lake Tahoe. As 
of July 13th, this fire had grownto 90,000 acres plus and 46%
containment. Praying for rain, 
too. 
Farewell to Bob and Nell Solt,
keepers of the world-famous 
Wistaria Vine, who are leaving Sierra Madre. What a responsibility to keep that vine alive andwell for 40 years. As I’m sure you, being residents of Sierra Madre know, this vine is the largest 
flowering plant in the world and occupies a one acre stretch of land. Once a year, during ourWistaria Festival, visitors are able to walk under this sprawling beauty. Hopefully, the new ownersof the Solt home will enjoy being the custodians of this local treasure. 
Here’s a bit more trivia about our vine: It is one of the Seven Horticultural Wonders of the 
World! Here are the others: 
• Sequoia National Park-Redwoods 
• Amazon Jungle 
• Wistaria House 
• Xochimilco Floating Gardens in Mexico 
• Garden of Taj Mahal 
• Garden of Buckingham Palace 
• Yokohama Rock Gardens, Japan 
There now, next time you’re playing Trivial Pursuit, you’ll ace this question. Here are a couplemore you might already know: 
Globe and Jerusalem are types of what? Answer: Artichoke. 
Which is the highest waterfall in the world? Answer: Angel Falls, Venezuela. 
Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in 1770 in which city? Answer: Berlin. 
The thing about Trivial Pursuit is that once you start playing it, you have to keep going and it 
takes forever for somebody to win, by which point you’re ready to put your head down on thetable and go to sleep. Monopoly is about the same. Scrabble, on the other hand, moves along alot quicker and, if you’re a good speller, you’ll have fun. Especially if you know a lot of words thatbegin with Q. Or Z“Loud is the summer’s busy song. The smallest breeze can find a tongue, while insects of eachtiny size grow teasing with their melodies, till noon burns with its blistering breath around, and 
day lies still as death.” John Clare 
I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of July. All we can do is move slowly, remember that 
only “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun,” (Noel Coward); clip the burnedleaves off our plants; water sparingly early in the morning and keep praying for that El Nino thingto show up this winter 
“The pleasure of jogging and running this time of year is rather like that of wearing a fur coat 
in Texas in August: the true joy comes in being able to take the darn thing off.” Joseph Epstein 
“July in sub-Saharan Los Angeles is one of the great and awful tests of one’s endurance, sanity 
and stamina.” Henry RollinsIn our efforts to conserve water, which we have to confess, we’ve not been very good about lately,
we have resolved again to use less. I seem to have become a water-a-holic in the kitchen, usingfar more than necessary. Old habits die hard, don’t they? So, shorter showers, no water running, 
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? 

These pictures were actually 
taken in the city of Sierra Madre. 
To the dismay of the businesses 
who rely on this parking lot for 
their customers, and residents 
and visitors who have observed 
this scene as they were out 
walking or driving by, it was/ 
is quite upsetting. The photo 
above, left, was submitted to the 
Mountain Views News a week 
ago Saturday.. It is a picture of the 
trash bin located in the parking 
lot of 370 W Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Needless to say, such a sight is 
uncharacteristic of Sierra Madre. 

By the middle of the week, the 
trash bin had been emptied but 
the trash that did not fit in the 
container was left. The second 
photo (right) was taken by the 
Mountain Views News after the 

Athens pick up. Where is the 
bin? 

Some residents expressed 
dissatisfaction with the business 
owners who utilize the parking 
lot, however, each of those 
businesses have leases which 
include trash collection and all 
that we spoke to were current on 
their rent. 

Upon further investigation, it was 
discovered that one of the reasons 
for the unsanitary situation was 
that the company contracted by 
the city for waste management, 
Athens Services, had discontinued 
trash collection to the address due 
to non-payment. “Stop service 
orders are only issued after 
chronic delinquency”, said Ed 
Chen, Director of Governmental 
Affairs. “Once we received the 
payment, we immediately restored service collection”. 

We reached out to the property owner, Tiara Commercial, LLC of Newport Beach, and spoke with the 
managing member. While acknowledging the delinquency that had, as of last week been cured, they too 
were concerned about the excess trash that was left. “They [Athens] charge for overages, so why didn’t they 
pick up the trash and bill me for the overages like they always do”. That question, when posed to Athens, 
went unanswered. 

It should be noted that from all appearances, the excess trash is not the result of the businesses but rather 
the result of unauthorized persons ‘dumping’ at the location. Sierra Madre Police do monitor the lot on a 
regular basis in an attempt to prevent unauthorized persons from using the parking lot for illegal activities. 

Dumping is illegal and not unique to that address. The issued was covered in the February 27, 2021 edition 
(p1, v15.09 — Home Page — Mountain Views News, Combined edition (mtnviewsnews.com)). 

However, the question remains, who is responsible for this? Is Athens acting responsibly when it selectively 
picks up trash? Should the owner increase the number of dumpsters on the property? 

The bottom line for the businesses who lease the property and the public that this situation has to be 
addressed immediately. S. Henderson/MVNews 

SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 

City of Sierra Madre 
NOTICE OF SCOPING MEETING FOR A DRAFT SUBSEQUENT 
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT 
DATE: July 17, 2021SCH NUMBER: 2021040369 
TO: Interested Parties 
FROM: City of Sierra Madre Planning and CommunityPreservation Department232 W. Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre, CA 91024 
SUBJECT: City of Sierra Madre 2021-2029 Housing Element Update 
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the City of Sierra Madre, as the lead agency pursuantto the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), will hold a Scoping Meeting for the 
Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Housing Element of the City 
of Sierra Madre General Plan for the 2021-2029 planning period (Housing Element Update). 
SCOPING MEETING: The Scoping Meeting will be held on July 28th, 2021 from 6:00 p.m. 
to 7:30 p.m. at the City of Sierra Madre City Hall Council Chambers. 
DATE AND TIME OF MEETING PLACE OF MEETING 
City of Sierra Madre City of Sierra MadreCity Council Meeting City Council ChambersWednesday, July 28, 2021 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. Sierra Madre, CA 91024 
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Comments on the Draft PEIR should be submitted during the Scop-
ing Meeting. Written comments must be sent to Vincent Gonzalez, Director of Planning and 
Community Preservation, 232 W. Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre, CA 91024, or vgon-
zalez@cityofsierramadre.com. Written comments must be received by August 1st. 2021. For 
additional information, please contact Mr. Gonzalez at 626-355-7135. 
PROJECT SUMMARY: The City is updating the Housing Element of the General Plan for 
the 2021-2029 planning period. The Housing Element is one of the seven required elements 
of the General Plan per the California Government Code, beginning at Section 655583. Gen-
erally, State law mandates updates to the Housing Element every eight years. The Housing 
Element serves as a policy guide to address the comprehensive housing needs of the City of 
Sierra Madre. The primary focus of the Housing element is to ensure decent, safe, sanitary 
and affordable housing for current and future residents of the City including those with special 
needs. The City is required to ensure the availability of residential sites, at adequate densi-
ties and appropriate development standards, adopt land use plans and regulatory systems that 
provide opportunities for, and do not unduly constrain housing production in the City to ac-
commodate its fair share of the regional housing need, also known as the Regional Housing 
Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation. 
QUESTIONS: 
For more information on the project, please see: http://www.cityofsierramadre.com/ 
housingelement 
the lawn will have to fend for itself and we’re still being pretty good about that flushing thing.
Seeing so many pictures on Facebook of bears lounging in Sierra Madre pools, walking across the 
street, languishing in the shade. They really want to come inside where the air conditioning andthe refrigerator are. 
“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing andthe lawnmower is broken.” James Dent 
May you have a perfect summer day every day this week and may your tomato plants give yougorgeous ripe beauties and may the tomato worms find someone else’s plant. Plant Dahlias. Theydon’t care if it’s hot. 
My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Where you’ll find“A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl & 47 Rattlers in A BagTrue Tales of Early California.”
Hot summer is the perfect time to read this exciting adventure.
For you Emma Gainsworth fans, all her escapades are there AND, there’s a new Emma story inthe works! 
July 4, 2021 to July 10, 2021 During this period 
the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to 
234 calls for service. 

ARREST A vehicle was stopped for vehicle code 
violations on 7-4-21 at 12:45AM at E. Sierra 
Madre Bl. and Monterey Lane. A records check of 
the driver and passenger revealed 
both were on probation, however, the passenger was 
a wanted person from Pasadena PD and Covina PD. 
The passenger was arrested and the driver was released 
at the scene. Case to DA’s office 

INTOXICATION 

Officers responding to a call of a suspicious person 
on 7-5-21 at 1:55AM at Arno Dr. and Santa Anita 
Ave. that appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. 
Following field sobriety tests, the male was 
arrested and taken to Pasadena Jail for booking. 
Case to DA’s office 

D.U.I. 

On 7-8-21 at 12:31AM, officers conducted a traffic 
stop on S. Baldwin Ave. The driver was arrested for 
a D.U.I. following the consented field sobriety test 
and taken to the Pasadena Jail for booking. 

to join with them in writing, calling, and emailing 
our state representatives to urge them to kill these 
two bills. Our Assembly person is Chris Holden 
and our state Senator is Anthony Portantino. Mr. 
Holden abstained on the previous vote to send 
these bills to the larger assembly. Mr. Portantino 
voted yes. We need to urge them to vote NO when 
the question comes up. Governor Gavin Newsom 
also needs to know that the people of California 
will stand up for their homes, families and communities 
and will not be bullied by the developers 
supporting these bills. 

Chris Holden can be reached at the following link: 
https://a41.asmdc.org/. His Sacramento office 
number is 916 319-2041. His local number is 626 
351-1917. 

Anthony Portantino can be reached at the following 
link: https://sd25.senate.ca.gov/. His Sacramento 
office number is 916 651-4025. His local 
number is 818 409-0400. 

Pease contact them and ask them to oppose both 
SB9 and SB10. 

For more information, watch these short, but extremely 
eye-opening videos. https://www.youtube. 
com/watch?v+fr-PikShzXg 

https:// www.youtube.com/
watch?v=EC12KUzpeoA 

 On 7-9-21 at 1:22AM, a vehicle was stopped for 
driving in the wrong direction on 
Kersting Ct. at W. Sierra Madre Bl. The driver consented 
to a field sobriety testthen taken to the Pasadena Jail for booking for 

D.U.I. Cases to the DA’s office 
THEFT 

Officers were dispatched for a report of a grand theft 
of a catalytic converter occurred in the 00 block of 
Suffolk Ave. sometime between 7-8-21 at 7:00PM 
and 7-9-21, at 7:00AM. Case to Detectives 

VANDALISM 

Officers responded to the 200 block of N. Michillinda 
Ave. for a report of vandalism. Unknown 
suspect(s) caused damage to private property. Case 
to Detectives 

LO-JACK Officers on patrol on 7-10-21 at 8:21PM, 
received a hit via the Lo-Jack system and located the 
vehicle driving east of the city. Officers stopped the 
vehicle with an assist with Monrovia PD and arrested 
the driver for auto theft and possession of drug 
paraphernalia. The driver was taken to the Pasadena 
Jail for booking. Case to DA’s offic 


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