In the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between “the City of Sierra Madre and the Congregation of the Passion, Mater Dolorosa Community,” the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was to have been published on October 1, 2020. In the interim, we have been given several publication dates. In the last meeting with Preserve Sierra Madre and New Urban West, the developers of the project now state that the draft will be available in May/June 2021. The draft report according to the MOU was to prepare an EIR and complete any required technical studies or analyses, which include, but are not limited to, the following:
Historical Resources Technical Report
Arborist Report and Tree Inventory Summery
Traffic Impact Study
Hydrology and Water Quality Study
Utilities and Services System Study
Greenhouse Gas Study
There will be a 60 day period for the City and the Citizens to make comments about the EIR. These comments must be made in writing and presented to the City for consideration during a 60 day period after which no changes can be made. We have two questions posed to the City Manager and will include his responses in our next article.
Q. 1) Has the City seen the draft EIR and, if so, when can we expect its release in order to prepare our questions and comments?
Q. 2) As we have all read in the Los Angeles Times, Star News and various websites as well as those articles sent to the citizens by the Stop the Housing Project group, there have been recent studies to show that there is already the beginning of another severe drought in the Western States, particularly Arizona, Nevada and Northern California. Because Sierra Madre relies on ground water as well as water from the Metropolitan Water District, and the fact that the subject of water conservation has increased in the past few months, will consideration and/or revision be made to the EIR that will address this critical situation? If so, will this further delay the publication date?
Stay tuned, the City’s response will be in the June 5th edition of the Mountain Views News.
