Sierra Madre Anticipates Further Discussions of Proposed Green Commission

By Jim E. Winburn

Both the City Council and members of the public have many questions on whether or not to grant the Green Advisory Committee’s request to become a commission.
Although the Sierra Madre City Council came to no conclusion at their Aug. 14 meeting, council members agreed that the idea is complex enough, perhaps even divisive enough, to continue the discussion for the next three meetings.
Forming a Green Advisory Commission would mean elevating the committee’s status to becoming a permanent fixture in the city’s affairs, thus council members at their last meeting sought clarity and direction toward the proposed body’s specific roles and duties. However, answers to such questions that night seemed to be more gray than green.
Councilman John Harabedian, elaborating on Councilman Chris Koerber’s concerns, asked, “If it were to be a good idea, what is the process to actually set one up, what is the charge that that commission would have, and how would the community go about doing that?”
Harabedian said that granting commission status to the Green Committee would be a good idea if the process were comprehensive enough so that a fair amount of time would be given to the community to discuss the idea and weigh in on it.
According to James Carlson, management analyst for Public Works, the original charge given the Green Advisory Committee, established by the City Council on Nov. 12, 2008, was to review green practices, policies and programs relating to Sierra Madre’s Green House Gas emissions.
But Carlson listed other committee responsibilities, such as exploring programs and practices that apply to the home, the city’s commercial area, and future city development, while also assisting in the creation of a green building code for public and private development in Sierra Madre. The committee also provides assistance to the General Plan Steering Committee and monitors environmental regulations, Carlson said.
Carlson told council members that if they were to create a commission, they need to define the body’s specific responsibilities and establish requirements for commissioners’ terms and experience.
He said the upshot would be that a permanent appointed body may enhance the city’s opportunities for grants, promote a long-term commitment toward conservation topics from residents, and, best of all, would cause no significant cost for conversion, as the “elimination of the committee would free-up approximately 10-12 staff hours per month,” according to the staff report.
Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Walsh underscored the importance of the proposed commission’s fiscal value to the city. “There are opportunities coming up that may have to do with funding, where we’re able to attract funding – and we can show that we have been proactive,” Walsh said, turning her attention to the city’s Buxton market research. “Oddly enough, working with this market study, I found out that there is some private funding for businesses that are green – (and) there are opportunities out there to bring businesses to town that might be supporting some kind of energy program.”
However, a large part of the council’s discussion was, and will continue to be, centered on the controversial land use issues contained in the Sierra Madre Environmental Accords, which were adapted from the United Nations Urban Environmental Accords. The concern is that these Accords may allow outside influences to decide development and density issues in this small foothill town.
Of particular concern to some members of the community is Action Item 21 of the Accords regarding urban design. Some believe this action item to be a call for development that is out of character with the foothill village: “Adopt urban planning principles and practices that advance higher density, mixed use, walkable, bikeable, and disabled-accessible neighborhoods, which coordinate land-use and transportation with open space systems for recreation and restoration.”
According to former Sierra Madre Mayor MaryAnn MacGillivray, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives wrote what became Chapter 28: Local Agenda 21, “which is an attempt by NGO’s (non-governmental agencies) to influence local land-use laws to shift the population away from low-density residential areas into high-density urban areas, and to put limits on production and consumption of items and services of all kinds including food, transportation, public utilities, natural resources and open space utilization for recreation.”
Claiming that most of the items listed on the Sierra Madre Accords already fall under the scope and authority of the Planning Commission, MacGillivray recommended that “it would be prudent and even wise to postpone the decision to convert the Green Committee to a commission until more complete analysis and discussion can be had by staff, council and the public.”
Mayor Josh Moran proposed that the council spread the discussions over the next three meetings. “I would like people to talk about what is in the accords they feel strongly for or against, which are achievable, which are measurable,” he said. “I would love to hear a presentation from the Green Committee of what they feel their charge is, what they feel the future of this commission should be, and how they view a group like this moving forward in the future.”

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