Sierra Madre: That's just the way, in The 'Dre

Mod: Anybody starting to feel a bit of 2007 deja vu?

That's just the way, in The 'Dre (Pasadena Star Newslink):A hundred or so sign-waving Sierra Madreans gathered at the gate of the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center recently to show concern over a proposed outsized housing development there. There is a lot to be concerned about. For them this wickiup wasteland would be a life-altering event, and not for the better.

Hyped by the Passionist Fathers as needed to fund retirements for older priests, gentlemen who apparently didn’t plan properly for their golden years, these proposed 42 tract McMansions, selling at upward of $4 million a fortress, may have a deleterious effect. By generating $168 million in sales, so mighty a mountain of milk and honey could present daunting challenges to anyone’s vow of poverty. Or attempts to squeeze through the eye of a needle.

The Passionists were holding a business meeting for potential investors that afternoon. The demonstrators hoped to convince those ostentatious moneymen floating up Sunnyside Avenue on the wings of Benzes and Lexuses that perhaps it would be more provident to hook up with Elon Musk and acquire Dogecoin instead.

Only 11 of these chariots of fire were counted, however. Not nearly as many as the Passionists had hoped. And judging by the grim expressions on the faces of those making the pilgrimage, the first questions at that meeting had to do with “those people and their signs.” It wasn’t what they’re accustomed to seeing at venture capitalist land use events. 

One of the demonstration organizers figures that the time required to build 42 tract McMansions is almost five years. The modest neighborhood streets leading into Mater Dolorosa were not built to accommodate half a decade of heavy construction equipment and trucks. The potential for dust, diesel exhaust, particulate matter, enervating noise, sleeplessness, pinched property values, random traffic and mayhem in general seems obvious.

The Passionists, rather than showing gratitude, have neglected to acknowledge that they are asking their neighbors to make extraordinary sacrifices. Like bygone lords of the manor, they apparently believe it’s owed them.

Concerned residents have hired Pasadena attorney Chris Sutton, architect of Sierra Madre’s landmark Measure V, who hopes to challenge the development scheme with a  ballot initiative. The residents would then decide rather than city officials giddy over how they’ll spend all that money.

Measure V was the remedy to a 2007 city scheme to raze Sierra Madre’s unique downtown commercial district and replace it with something drab and generic. And since the city’s elected officials back then refused to stand up for what the people wanted, the people took away their power to decide. 

Something that is now about to happen for a second time in less than 15 years.

Recently some of the folks attempting to stop mass McMansionization sent a letter to City Hall requesting documents pertinent to the project under the California Public Records Act. They suspected improprieties  and wanted to investigate. Then-City Manager Gabe Engeland, who often boasted of his dedication to transparency, replied that he needed to speak with the city attorney before complying.

The result? The more controversial project documents and EIR related materials were covertly ceded to a private consultancy firm where they could be legally shielded from the investigative eyes of taxpaying residents.