Sierra Madre May Join Bid to Preserve Foothills Land

Sierra Madre may become the latest San Gabriel Valley city to study ways to save the foothills from encroaching development.

Councilman George Maurer is proposing the establishment of a land conservancy to protect 1,600 acres in the foothills, 493 acres of which are privately owned. Most of the remaining land has been designated as wilderness area and is already protected by the National Forest Service.

“We want to keep the land in its pristine condition,” Maurer said last week. “I hate to see what’s happening here. In Glendale and Monrovia, they’ve dug into the hillside.”

Glendora officials are exploring several ways to preserve their foothills. A study is scheduled to be presented to the council Tuesday.

The Claremont City Council has pledged the money necessary to preserve the slopes along the northern border of the city. Last month the council voted unanimously to purchase 1,345 acres of unincorporated hillside land, which will be annexed and designated as open space.

Revenue-Raising Sale

The city plans to recoup the cost--estimated at $13 million to $18 million--by selling about 145 acres in the lower foothills to developers.

Other cities bordered by the hills, including Pasadena, La Verne and Duarte, restrict development in the foothills but are not considering establishing land conservancies.

Maintaining the beauty of the hillsides is not the only reason for possible protection. City officials say there is a safety factor involved as well.

“These hills are very unstable. Anyone developing them is taking a chance,” Maurer said, citing mudslide and fire hazards. Maurer is a former volunteer with the Sierra Madre Fire Department.

Tight Budgets

Some officials in Sierra Madre and Glendora said they would like to support keeping the foothills undeveloped, but face tight budgets that make funding such a project difficult.

Sierra Madre Mayor Bruce Crow said the land probably would have to be donated because the city’s $5-million annual operating budget could not finance such a project.

One of the nine landowners has promised to donate about 40 acres if the land conservancy is approved, Maurer said. In addition, a local priest has pledged $1,000, he said. Maurer declined to release the names of the two.

Maurer said it is in the best interest of Sierra Madre land owners to donate their property. Some of the owners bought the hillside land to preserve it, he said.

“By turning it over to a conservancy, they would be free from having to pay property taxes,” Maurer said.

Sierra Madre Councilwoman Lisa Fowler, who lives close to the foothills, said she “wholeheartedly approves” of keeping the hills clear of development.

‘Horrified’ by Building

“I was born and reared in Monrovia, and horrified to see all the development in Gold Hill,” she said. “The foothills are part of our heritage, and I’m tired of wildlife and heritage being second to development.”

Sierra Madre is already taking other steps to preserve its foothills.

According to City Manager James McRea, the city is close to adopting an ordinance that would allow construction of only one home per 40 acres for elevations above 12,000 feet, and one home per 10 acres for lower elevations. Until the ordinance is passed, a temporary building moratorium prohibits any construction in the hills.

Glendora officials are also looking into the possibility of establishing a land conservancy, following through on an idea proposed by Mayor Leonard Martyns four weeks ago.

Martyns said he is “most enthused by people who are showing they are behind this. Glendora has always been a leader in protecting our foothills.”

Many Options

According to Glendora City Manager Art Cook, city staff is studying many options. They include a bond issue or a property tax increase to purchase about 2,000 privately owned acres to be set aside as open space. Under Proposition 13, a two-thirds vote would be required for the city to raise taxes.

Cook said land in the foothills is expensive--the cost would exceed $100 million--but voters have demonstrated their willingness to finance preservation of the hillsides. In the early 1970s, he said, voters approved a bond issue to acquire much of the South Hills area and designate it as open space.

Glendora Councilman Bob Kuhn said he is “in favor of what it will ultimately take to preserve the foothills,” but said it would probably be almost impossible to persuade voters to approve a tax increase.

Flood of Proposals

Although voters in concept support slowing the spread of development in the foothills, a tax increase “would be voted down 90 to 10,” Kuhn said. He also expressed skepticism over the possibility that the land would be donated, saying that several hundred individuals own the land and probably would not give up valuable property.

Unlike Sierra Madre, which has seen virtually no development in its foothills, Glendora landowners and developers have flooded the city with numerous proposals, according to Cook.

“This has raised concern that the hillsides have to be preserved before they are all eaten up by development,” he said.

Ordinance Defeated

That concern, Cook said, culminated during last November’s election when voters soundly defeated a proposed ordinance that would have raised the maximum height for two-story homes in some areas from 25 to 30 feet.

The ordinance was passed by the council in August, but the slow-growth group, Glendora Pride, warning that the ordinance paved the way for large, imposing homes in the hillside, collected more than 3,000 signatures and demanded a referendum.