First Pass of New General Plan Reviewed By Steering Committee

The General Plan Steering Committee (GPSC) met in a special session Sunday to review the first pass revisions to the 1996 General Plan.

During review of the section describing Distribution and Intensity of Land Use Development, a pretty lengthy debate took place after Committee Member John Hutt suggested that considerations be made for a special review of development projects that exceed one acre.

The concern is larger properties often announce a planned use for their properties, then change plans over time to something completely different. Hutt suggested that a master plan be set for properties over an acre.

A second debate took place over housing density when Hutt proposed allowing 18 multi- family units per acre.  The current maximum allowance is 13 units. Hutt cited that growth over the past 10 years has only triggered a 1% growth rate and that it would be very unlikely that a raise to 18 would result in maximum density being met.

“If everything were built to its theoretical maximum, we would change the town,” Hutt said. “But, that is a fear that’s not going to happen."

Council Member MaryAnn MacGillivray, who serves as the GPSC liaison disagreed with Hutt’s sentiments.

“You can’t write a plan hedging bets like that,” MacGillivray said. “You have to look at the worse case scenario. I think the responsibility of this committee to write this plan is to consider that theoretical worse case as a possibility,” she said.

The majority of committee members agreed that 18 units per acre is too high. The committee voted 5-4 to analyse the data more thoroughly, with Delmar being the deciding vote.

Other discussions included a proposed format for the General Plan document, specific changes to language throughout the Goals and Objectives sections, and a cross-check to make sure each aspect of the plan are consistent with the proposed Vision and Guiding Principles, which read as follows:

• Preserve and sustain Sierra Madre’s distinctive character as a historic small town nestled in the foothills, but within a major metropolitan area.
• Ensure that Sierra Madre is a safe, vibrant place to live, work and visit by providing city services that match the needs of the community and promote community engagement.
• Protect and be responsible stewards of the neighboring San Gabriel Mountain Foothills’ wildlife, forest, open space, watershed and all other natural resources.
• Promote and develop a strong, diversified local economy and a thriving town center, consistent with the needs of the community.
• Ensure development is done in harmony with its neighborhood, while maintaining the character of the town and without unduly burdening existing city services and infrastructure or impacting the environment.

Some of the changes to language include adding the hillside residential areas to the Districts section and adding a line promoting the co-existence of natural floral and fauna to the Land Use Goals section.

Though the meeting, led by Chair Denise Delmar, was open to the public for comments, not many attended on a rainy Sunday.

The committee will reconvene on December 1 and December 6 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. All are welcome to attend and public input is encouraged.

View the 1996 General Plan above.