Dear Editor: A Victory for Preservation!

What a joy to read about the victory of Residents for the Preservation of Sierra Madre regarding a Planning Commission decision on the 1 Carter development.
I am unaware of just what type of house had been proposed but it sounds like it would have been an added insult to the already compromised natural beauty of the area.
Although the lovely natural mountain area there has been cut and graded, hopefully the added insult of towering hulks of houses can at least be prevented at that location and all others in the city.
It is wonderful that citizens have united to protect the beautiful city of Sierra Madre and the Highland Oaks area of Arcadia.
For years, every resident of this area, as well as myself, has been sickened by the destruction of Arcadia, largely between Santa Anita and Baldwin Avenue south of Duarte Road.
Our San Gabriel Mountains are being blocked from our views by monster houses. Neighboring lots have huge two-story houses on lots too small for them, with their windows peering down into our backyards and our views and our sunlight diminished by the shade of the “monsters.”
As for “property rights”: Just pass the proper regulatory ordinances that will prevent decimation of neighborhoods and then, with those ordinances in place, prospective buyers can go elsewhere if they do not like the rules.

-Linda Cooper Smith

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