Website Aligns Sierra Madre Residents with Slavery, Capital Punishment, Prohibition and Abortion.


"I understand how hard the Task Force worked for 8 months, but if rules or regulations or laws or amendments or projects or policies were rated on how hard the folks worked or how good were their intentions…

then we should all be darn well satisfied with the laws on abortion, guns, euthanasia, capital punishment, immigration, etc., and would still be living with slavery and/or segregation, prohibition, the draft and so forth.

They were all created, at some time, by hard-working people. And let's not forget with what the road to Hell was paved. "

beth buck

downtown dirt dot UGLY

Sierra Madre Planning Commissioner on 1 Carter Project

"1 Carter greatly overstates City tax revenues from the project.

In fact, it’s about an order of magnitude off.

Assuming the $2.5 million price per house mentioned in the article is correct, the total assessed valuation of the project would be $72.5 million.

This is a $66 million increase over the existing $6.5 million valuation.

The property tax rate is 1%, so this yields an increase of property taxes of $660,000.

However, the City’s share of the property tax is approximately 17%, so the City would net only about $112,200 per year.

Adding over $100,000 per year to the City’s budget is certainly not a bad thing, but it’s no where near the million dollars claimed in the article."

john hutt

august 21, 2006

downtown dirt dot ugly

Property tax is 1.25% of the purchase price, not 1%, as you stated.

Therefore, 29 homes with an average value of $2.5MM equals $72,500,000.

If the city receives 18% of $906,250, this would be a (annual) total of $163,125.

calamity jane

response to 1 Carter

downtown dirt message board

BOYCOTT CALLED ON SIERRA MADRE BUSINESSES

from the

downtown dirt dot ugly

message board

"...most of the businesses that advertise in the Weekly, or better yet Weakly (like that one?) have no idea that a boycott is afoot.

Simply not using someone's services without saying anything to them will do no good.

If it is to be effective, you have to get the word out, otherwise people will continue to advertise like they always have.

So we've got to write letters or make phonecalls to all of the advertisers letting them know that should they continue to advertise in the Weakly, a large group of concerned citizens will not use their services.

josh moran

Lozano's has long been our dinner place of choice for birthdays, anniversarys, etc. No more.

We are going to be selling a duplex here in Sierra Madre in about six months.

We have used Webb-Martin Realtors before.

Not this time.

sheriff john

Former Sierra Madre City Mayor on Downtown Development and the DSP

"NOBODY wants to see our downtown over-developed. Property is and has changed hands."

People from within our town and outsiders all have plans to change this or that, bulldoze this or that, sell this or that, and some just plain flat-out give a hoot about what you and I think.

"Well, we all ought to take this as a "call to arms" to seek controls over these developers and tell THEM what they can and can't build, not the other way around."

Doug Hayes

June 15, 2006

downtown dirt dot ugly

Sierra Madre DSP New Condo Project Underway in City

Developer: Sierra Madre Land Company

Improvements include:

1. 2 acre redevelopment.

2. 3 story mixed use retail - 2 story visible.

3. 55 new properties such as condos for sale or retail space.

4. Targeting senior citizens and new buyers - so condo prices should be lowest on market?

5. "Substantial" underground parking as reported by downtown dirt.org.

6. According to developer - basically satisfes our state mandated housing requirements.

7. Town Meetings planned this fall by developer for citizen input and considerations.

8. Approved by city for development .

"I support the idea of limiting the building heights to 2 stories and 30 feet"

Glenn Lambdin

Former Mayor Sierra Madre

Commenting on the DSP

August 10, 2006

downtown dirt dot ugly

Sierra Madre Council Member Statement on the DSP

In early June 2006, on the eve of the Downtown Specific Plan Study Session, Council Member Joe Mosca released a statement about his position on the controversial initiative.

"Recently, a lot of questions have arisen about the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP), and why Sierra Madre needs a DSP.

The process of developing the draft DSP was initiated over a year ago when several key properties in our downtown area were sold to developers who wanted to develop the parcels.

Residents of Sierra Madre and members of City Council wanted to draft a plan to guide the future of our downtown and protect our downtown from developers and over-development.

Our current zoning laws are about 50 years old and allow for over-development and development that is not in synch with the charm of our downtown, such as the building on the corner of Baldwin and East Montecito.

So, the DSP was initiated to restrict development, guide a vision for our downtown, and also ensure Sierra Madre’s zoning laws comply with state law.

Close to 400 Sierra Madre residents and business owners in Sierra Madre provided input through workshops, forums, and meetings.

The result was the DRAFT DSP that we have before us today.

The emphasis here is that it is a draft only at this point.

There will be several more community-wide meetings, so that every Sierra Madre resident can have the opportunity to contribute and make their voice heard as to what they want included in the final DSP.

The current DSP is not perfect and it has some flaws that need to be changed.

But it is a start for our City to begin the discussion on what the future of our downtown should look like.

Up next for the DSP is the release of the Environmental Impact Report, which mandated by the State to study all environmental impacts the DSP can have on our city and how best to preserve our community.

Also, the City has begun meetings for Sierra Madre residents to have their voices heard as to what they envision this DSP should include and not include.

Once the DSP has taken shape and the process has been completed in the coming months, it will be put to a vote by the people of Sierra Madre, hopefully with our County elections this fall.

As a City Councilmember who represents all of Sierra Madre and also believes in preserving our jewel of a community here, it is my hope that through the DSP and with voter approval, we will be able to restrict development and promote a plan that preserves and protects our downtown.

There is a lot of misinformation/fear being spread about the DSP and some correct information.

I encourage you to please get involved and attend meetings on the Downtown Plan, so that we can shape the eventual document into something that will preserve our community and also be something we can all be proud of.

In the end, I hope we are successful in shaping the document into something that will protect and preserve our community.

Ultimately, it is up to the people of Sierra Madre to decide.

I believe in and will support a city-wide vote on the DSP.

Thank you very much and please feel free to contact me with any concerns."

Joe Mosca

joemosca@joemosca.com

626-807-1142

Enough of the Developer's DSP - What About the Sierra Madre Public Library?