Council Moves to Put Kensington on Ballot

The Sierra Madre City Council approved Tuesday a request by Fountain Square Development West to put their proposed assisted living facility, the Kensington Project, before voters in November.

However, voters won’t be voting specifically on whether to approve Kensington, which would be built at 225-245 W Sierra Madre Blvd. Rather, they will be voting on changes to city laws that Kensington currently violates.

This could be a General Plan amendment, zoning text amendment, a change to Measure V or some combination of these. Voters won’t know exactly what they’ll be voting on until the Kensington Project is fully reviewed by the Planning Commission and the City Council. Wording likely won’t be finalized until September.

Plans for the Kensington Project currently violate Measure V and cannot be approved without changes to current city laws.

Mayor John Buchanan cautioned that the ballot measure should “get worded correctly and precisely,” and urged the next City Council to “invest the time and money to get the ballot proposition right.” Buchanan also spoke of the legislative changes as an opportunity for the community to “move past things that have unnecessarily divided us.”