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OPINIONOPINION

Mountain View News Saturday, March 29, 2025

City of Sierra Madre

ORDINANCE NO. 1480-U

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE, CALIFORNIA, DECLARING A SHELTER CRISIS, SUSPENDING 
VARIOUS SECTIONS OF TITLE 15 (BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION), TITLE 16 (SUBDIVISIONS), AND TITLE 17 
(ZONING) OF THE SIERRA MADRE MUNICIPAL CODE, AND PROVIDING DIRECTION TO STAFF TO STREAMLINE 
AND REDUCE THE COST OF REDEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURES IMPACTED BY THE EATON FIRE

RECITALS

WHEREAS, the Eaton Fire ignited on January 7, 2025, resulting in 14,000 acres burned, more than 9,000 structures destroyed, and 
17 people killed; WHEREAS, in Sierra Madre, approximately 750 acres burned and 55 structures were destroyed or damaged including 
27 structures that have since been red tagged and 8 structures that have been yellow tagged; WHEREAS, on January 9, 2025, the 
Sierra Madre City Council proclaimed a local emergency due to the Eaton Fire; WHEREAS, on January 12, 2025, the Governor issued 
Executive Order N-5-25 (“EO N-5-25”) and on January 16, 2025, the Governor issued Executive Order N-9-25 (“EO N-9-25”) 
to expedite recovery and rebuilding efforts in the impacted communities; WHEREAS, on February 13, Sierra Madre experienced 
significant debris flow caused by a winter storm, which enveloped City streets and damaged vehicles; WHEREAS, on February 25, 
2025, the City Council proclaimed a new local emergency in response to the severe debris flow; WHEREAS, 22 homes have been red 
tagged, resulting in the total vacation of a property, and 7 homes have been yellow tagged, resulting in partial vacation of a property; 

WHEREAS, the City desires to assist residents affected by the Eaton Fire and the subsequent debris flow in rebuilding and returning 
to their homes as quickly and cost effectively as possible; and WHEREAS, on March 6, 2025, the Sierra Madre Planning Commission 
met and unanimously directed the City Attorney to draft an urgency ordinance to streamline and reduce the cost of redevelopment 
of structures impacted by the Eaton Fire and subsequent debris flow.WHEREAS, on March 20, 2025, the Sierra Madre Planning 
Commission adopted Resolution No. 1480-U recommending the City Council approve an urgency ordinance and other related 
actions to streamline and reduce the cost of redevelopment of structures impacted by the Eaton Fire. 

THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE, CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Recitals. The Recitals above are true and correct and incorporated herein by this reference.

SECTION 2. Declaration. Pursuant to Government Code section 8698.2, subdivision (a), the City Council declares a shelter crisis 
due to the fact that many Sierra Madre families are left without a permanent residence after their homes were red tagged or yellow 
tagged and are without the ability to obtain shelter in Sierra Madre because there are no hotels or motels or a sufficient number of 
short-term accommodations within the City’s boundaries and, as a result, the situation presents a threat to the health and safety of 
those persons.

SECTION 3. Applicability. This Ordinance is limited to those property owners with red tagged or yellow tagged structures that were 
impacted by the Eaton Fire and subsequent debris flows. 

SECTION 4. Termination. This Ordinance will automatically terminate upon the fifth anniversary of its effective date.

SECTION 5. Suspension of Discretionary Demolition Permits. The City Council suspends Section 17.60.056 (Discretionary Demolition 
Permit) of Chapter 17.60 (Variances and Discretionary Permits) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 6. Suspension of Historic Resource Review. The City Council suspends Subsections B (30-day wait period) and K 
(Demolitions of Historic Structure) of Section 15.04.115 (Section 105.7 Demolition Permits) of Chapter 15.04 (Building Code and 
Permits) of Title 15 (Buildings and Construction) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code. 

SECTION 7. Application Timeline. The City Council finds that any property owner with a property containing structures destroyed 
or damaged by the Eaton Fire that has not applied for a demolition permit within six months of the effective date of this Ordinance or 
has not exercised a demolition permit within six months of issuance of such permit to clear his or her property of debris is determined 
to have created a public nuisance under Sierra Madre Municipal Code Section 8.16.010.

SECTION 8. Suspension of Discretionary Review in One Faily Residential Zone. The City Council suspends Section 17.20.027 
(Design Review Permit) of Chapter 17.20 (R-1 One Family Residential Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal 
Code for those structures that do not exceed 110% of the development standards applicable to the prior development based on the 
condition of the structure on January 6, 2025.

SECTION 9. Suspension of Discretionary Review in Residential Canyon Zone. The City Council suspends Section 17.30.045 (Design 
Review Permit) of Chapter 17.30 (R-C Residential Canyon Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code for 
those structures that do not exceed 110% of the development standards applicable to the prior development based on the condition 
of the structure on January 6, 2025.

SECTION 10. Suspension of Discretionary Review in Hillside Management Zone. The City Council suspend Subsection (B)-(C) 
of Section 17.52.050 (Permit requirements) and Subsection (C) of Section 17.52.070 (Land use regulations) of Chapter 17.52 (H 
Hillside Management Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code for those structures that do not exceed 110% of 
the development standards applicable to the prior development based on the condition of the structure on January 6, 2025.

SECTION 11. Exception to Suspension of Discretionary Review. Notwithstanding Sections 5 – 9, the City Council authorizes the 
Director of Planning and Community Preservation to refer any application to the planning commission for issuance of a discretionary 
demolition permit, design review permit, conditional use permit, or variance if staff determines the application proposes a use 
not otherwise permitted or exceeds the development standards as proposed by this Resolution and the Sierra Madre Municipal Code. 

SECTION 12. Existing Nonconformances. The City Council finds that nonconforming structures may be allowed to benefit from this 
Ordinance, but only to the extent such use extends a building plane of a non-conformity and does not exacerbate the non-conformity 
in any other way or extend it beyond its plane.

SECTION 13. Additional Floor Area. The City Council finds that, with respect to floor area, structures may be allowed the greater 
of an additional 10% of the floor area of the pre-existing structure or 250 square feet. The floor area development standard may be 
applied to any story of a development to the extent the pre-existing structure had more than one story. 

SECTION 14. Suspension of Limitation on Accessory Dwelling Unit Development. The City Council suspends Section 17.22.100 
(Application Review) of Chapter 17.22 (Accessory Dwelling Units) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 15. Suspension Permitting Temporary Storage of Trailers. The City Council suspends Section 17.48.250 (Storage of Trailers) 
of Chapter 17.48 (Development Standards) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 16. Suspension Permitting Storage of Trailers in One Family Residential Zone. The City Council suspends Subsections 
(E) and (L) of Section 17.20.020 (Permitted Uses) of Chapter 17.20 (R-1 One Family Residential Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the 
Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 17. Suspension Permitting Temporary Storage of Trailers in Residential Canyon Zone. The City Council suspends Paragraphs 
(E) and (F) of Section 17.30.030 (Permitted Uses) of Chapter 17.30 (R-C Residential Canyon Zone) of title 17 (Zoning) of 
the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 18. Suspension Permitting Temporary Storage of Trailers in Residential Canyon Zone. The City Council suspends Section 
17.30.220 (Parking of recreational vehicles and boats) of Chapter 17.30 (R-C Residential Canyon Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) of 
the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 19. Suspension Permitting Temporary Storage of Trailers in Hillside Management Zone. The City Council suspends Subsection 
(B)(5) of Section 17.52.070 (Land Use Regulations) of Chapter 17.52 (H-Hillside Management Zone) of Title 17 (Zoning) 
of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 20. Maintenance Agreements. The City Council requires every property owner subject to this Ordinance seeking to place 
a manufactured home, mobile home, or recreational vehicle on a private lot be required to enter into a maintenance agreement with 
the City regarding site maintenance and utilities.

SECTION 21. Suspension of Historic Preservation. The City Council suspends Section 16.04.06 (Preservation of Historic Resources) 
of Chapter 16.04 (General Provisions) of Title 16 (Subdivisions) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code. 

SECTION 22. Suspension of Historic Preservation. The City Council suspends Subsection 17.20.100(C)(2)(d) (Newly created or 
reconfigured lots – Width and street frontage) of Chapter 17.20 (General Provisions) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal 
Code.

SECTION 23. Historic Resources Evaluation. In lieu of conducting a historic resources evaluation for each structure, the City Council 
directs staff to recommend a historic resources evaluation for all the structures subject to this urgency ordinance.

SECTION 24. Suspension of Certain Public Improvements. The City Council directs the Public Works Department to suspend the 
following public improvements:

A. If an applicant’s property did not include a sidewalk or curb/gutter over the public right of way fronting the property prior 
to the Eaton Fire, no mandate to install a sidewalk or curb/gutter over the public right of way fronting the property shall be required;

B. If an applicant’s property included a sidewalk or curb/gutter over the public right of way fronting the property prior to the 
Eaton Fire, any such public improvements since destroyed must be replaced by the applicant; and

C. If an applicant’s property included a sidewalk or curb/gutter over the public right of way fronting the property prior to the 
Eaton Fire, any such public improvements since damaged, whether during the rebuild process of the property or otherwise, must be 
restored by the applicant.

SECTION 25. Entitlement Extensions. The City Council extends by two years the expiration date for all subdivision permits and 
zoning permits set to expire in 2025 for all applicable structures.

SECTION 26. Entitlement Extensions. The City Council extends by one year the expiration date for all subdivision permits and zoning 
permits issued from 2025 – 2028 for all applicable structures.

SECTION 27. Suspension of the Low Impact Development Ordinance. The City Council suspends Chapter 15.58 (Low Impact 
Development Plan) of Title 15 (Building and Construction) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.

SECTION 28. Streamlining the Approval of Building Plans. The City Council permits structures subject to this urgency ordinance 
and approved under the prior two Building Code Cycles (2019 and 2022) to forego additional building plan review. 

SECTION 29. Building Permit Extensions. The City Council extends by three years the expiration date for all building permits issued 
for all applicable structures.

SECTION 30. Avoiding the Cost of Geological and Soil Reports. The City Council directs the City Engineer to forego mandating an 
engineering geological report or soil engineering report where the City Engineer concludes, based on a preponderance of the available 
data, that there are no geological or soil related issues with the site for which an applicant is required to obtain a grading permit 
prior to excavating or filling the site. 

SECTION 31. Streamlining Administrative Review. The City Council directs staff to amend the existing contract with Willdan 
Engineering, Inc. for fire safety and building code review to include items that would ordinarily be reviewed by public works staff, 
including grading and drainage for purposes of reviewing applications subject to this Ordinance.

SECTION 32. Streamlining Fire Hydrant Flow Analysis. The City Council directs staff to measure the fire hydrant flow for a sufficient 
number of hydrants closest to each of the structures subject to this Ordinance.

SECTION 33. Approving Alternative Materials, Designs, and Construction Methods. The City Council directs the Fire Code Official 
to exercise her authority under Fire Code 104.10 to approve alternative materials, designs, or construction methods that are at least 
as effective, durable, and safe as that prescribed in the Fire Code.

SECTION 34. CEQA. The proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under the Governor’s 
Executive Order N-20-25, Sections 2-4, which suspend the applicability of CEQA to “for projects to repair, restore, demolish, 
or replace property or facilities substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency” and authorizing the City to 
“develop guidance and procedures for implementing this Paragraph.” The proposed ordinance is also exempt under 14 CCR 15269 
(emergency projects exemption) and 14 CCR 15061(b)(3) (common sense exemption).

SECTION 35. Severability. If any sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance or any 
part hereof or exhibit hereto is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions 
of this Ordinance or any part thereof or exhibit thereto. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, 
subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that anyone or more sections, subsections, 
subdivisions, paragraph, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.

SECTION 36. Certification. Pursuant to Government Code Section 36932, the City Clerk shall certify the passage, approval, and 
adoption of this Ordinance by the City Council.

SECTION 37. Publication. Pursuant to Government Code Section 36933, the City Clerk shall cause this Ordinance to be published 
or posted.

SECTION 38. Records. Pursuant to Government Code Section 40801, proof of certification and publication shall be entered in the 
book of Ordinances of the City Council.

SECTION 39. Effective Date. Pursuant to Government Code Section 36937, subdivision (b), the City Council finds that the destruction 
and damage to structures in the community require this Ordinance take effect immediately on an urgency basis to redevelop 
those structures and rehouse those families impacted by the Eaton Fire and resulting debris flow for the immediate preservation of 
the public peace, health and safety.

URGENCY ORDINANCE 1480-U WAS PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 25th day of March 2025.

AYES: Mayor Robert Parkhurst, Council Member Edward Garcia, and Council Member Gene Goss 

NOES: None.

ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Kristine Lowe and Council Member Kelly Kriebs

ABSTAINED: None.

HOWARD Hays As I See It


“EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” – sign 
deemed too controversial for an Idaho 
middle school

I enjoyed Dick Polman’s column last week about Jackie Robinson’s 
page being scrubbed from the Pentagon website “either deliberately 
or by mistake”, along with his refresher on Lt. Robinson’s court-
martial for having refused to “move to the back of the bus”.

 

That particular scrubbing included other Negro League ballplayers and their military 
service. Also gone was Ira Hayes, Marine Pfc seen in the iconic photo of Marines 
raising our flag at Iwo Jima. Hayes was a Native American of the Pima Nation. 
Gone were pages on the Navajo Code Talkers, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman 
Gen. Colin Powell and Medgar Evers – who landed at the beaches of Normandy and 
was killed by a white supremacist in Mississippi twenty years later (now resting at 
Arlington).

 

Missing were pages on the 442nd Regimental Combat Team – sons of Japanese immigrants, 
leaving families behind in internment camps to fight for their country in 
Europe, becoming the most highly-decorated unit of its size in WWII.

 

Some of those pages were restored (albeit altered), but we have assurance the Pentagon 
is now exercising due diligence. Should there be coverage of joint exercises with 
a foreign “partner” military that includes women, for example, Pentagon staffers will 
first determine whether any of those women are there due to their own country’s DEI 
initiatives. (You can’t make this up.)

 There have been many such stories over the past weeks – stupid, outrageous outcomes 
from an obsession with DEI and zealous AI search engines rooting it out. But 
underlying it all is an ugly, open resurgence of the racism, misogyny and gender-phobia 
that, until recently, were thought to be buried. Whether because of policymakers’ 
own prejudices or simply to energize the MAGAs, permission has been granted not 
just to be open about whatever one’s bigotry, but to act on it. And now, administrators 
at both major universities and small-town school districts are afraid.

 

Sarah Inama has taught 6th grade world civilization at a Meridian, Idaho middle 
school for four years. Her attitude is, “I would do anything to protect my students. I 
love all of them unconditionally.” She got into trouble not only for the “EVERYONE 
IS WELCOME HERE” sign in her classroom, but also one which read, "in this room 
everyone is WELCOME, IMPORTANT, ACCEPTED, RESPECTED, ENCOURAGED, 
VALUED, and EQUAL".

 

District officials told her the signs “were in violation of district policy because in 
today’s political environment they’re considered a personal opinion”. She was told to 
take them down by the end of the day, which she did, but then “I was just so unsettled 
by it. And so, I went back into my classroom and put it back up. And I emailed my 
principal and said I just, 'I don't agree. I don't agree that this is a personal opinion. I 
think this is the basis of public education.'"

 

She was warned, “School property shall not be used by personnel for the advancement 
of individual beliefs.” They said that although nobody had complained about 
the signs, “we just want to protect you in case that would happen” and, as she recalls 
their explanation, “’everyone is welcome here’ is not something that everybody believes, 
so that’s what makes it a personal opinion”.

 

According to her Academic Officer, the problem was not so much the text but the accompanying 
graphic – ten raised hands, as in kids eager to be the first one called on, 
in skin tones of black, white and shades in-between. The implication that “everyone” 
meant regardless of skin color is what others might have a problem with.

 

Ms. Inama was given until the end of the school year to remove the posters, or face 
charges of insubordination. But as for her students, she remains determined “to protect 
them from being affected by racist sentiment. I find it hard to grapple with the 
fact that the reason why this poster needs to come down is because there are people 
outside of our school that disagree with it.”

 

Her Academic Officer seemed to rationalize the situation when, expanding on the “in 
today’s political environment” line, he admitted to her that “what might be controversial 
now might not have been controversial three-six-nine months ago”. According 
to Ms. Inama, calls for inclusivity had never before been a problem. But now, in 
the context of these DEI purges and other actions under the Trump administration, 
it becomes “controversial” – and the notion that all should be welcomed becomes 
“personal opinion.”

 

While local administrators fret about funding being threatened over anything that 
might suggest DEI or “critical race theory”, students and parents have mobilized in 
support of Ms. Inama with demonstrations, walkouts, posters and friendship bracelets 
handed out with the words “EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” and “EQUALITY”. 
A local shop has turned out 8,000 “EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” t-shirts 
that students and parents wear to school – and which have been shipped to supporters 
throughout the country.

 

As for Pentagon staffers scrubbing webpages and those directing them, I wish they 
could spend some time at that Idaho middle school sitting with kids proudly and defiantly 
wearing their “EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE” t-shirts. Maybe they could 
learn something in Ms. Inama’s classroom. 

 


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