Sierra Madre : Hillside Task Force Formed

A task force, whose nine members include attorneys representing land owners and hillside preservationists, has been created to devise changes to the city’s strict hillside ordinance.

The group will present its revisions within 90 days for approval by the City Council. The members are Dale Beland and Steven Broiles, attorneys representing hillside property owners; John Betterly, a land-use consultant; Caroline Brown and Verna Chilton, members of the Hillside Coalition; George Maurer, a Sierra Madre councilman; Gurdon Miller, a Los Angeles city planner and member of the Hillside Coalition; Ross Tyree, chairman of the city’s Planning Commission, and Ted Willis, a hillside property owner.

The city’s strict hillside development ordinance was hastily adopted by the City Council in January when it learned a moratorium on hillside building had expired. The ordinance creates five zones and limits construction to densities ranging from five to 40 acres per house.