Court rules Glendale Unified violated municipal codes and must pay damages
The Glendale Unified school district became a “nuisance,” according to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, because it removed trees, built a 6-foot-high wall and expanded parking on its facilities site next to an apartment building, violating municipal codes and a land-use variance.
The decision handed down last month by Judge Daniel Murphy comes about two years after James and Michael O’Donnell filed a lawsuit against the school district.
The O’Donnells will receive $10,000 in damages from Glendale Unified, and the school district must pay for the cost of the lawsuit, court records show.
The O’Donnells own an apartment building on Palmer Avenue near San Fernando Road, next door to Glendale Unified’s Facility and Support Operations, where the district’s maintenance crews are based.
The Glendale Unified site is located in a zone intended for “medium-density residential development,” according to court records.
Prior to the 1950s, the site was a former school, but in 1956, city officials granted Glendale Unified a land-use variance, allowing Glendale Unified to house its maintenance operation there.
Glendale school officials operated the site without making excessive noise until a few years ago, according to James O’Donnell’s testimony during a three-day bench trial in March.
In 2012, Glendale Unified violated the 1956 variance by removing a wall from the side yard located between the site and the apartment building.
The next year, the school district placed shipping containers near the property line.
The actions of Glendale Unified constituted nuisances.
— Los Angeles County Superior Court decision regarding Glendale Unified’s illegal construction on its facilities site next door to an apartment building
By June 2015, Glendale Unified had removed Jacaranda trees along Palmer Avenue to build the 6-foot wall along the street’s sidewalk, eliminating the frontyard setback, which was required to be maintained according to a variance and municipal codes.
Erik Krause, interim deputy director of planning for the city of Glendale, testified that the district would have needed to secure a building permit before constructing a wall that high in that zone.
The school district did not secure a permit, and “no city of Glendale employee inspected or approved the trench, footing or rebar concerning this block wall,” court records show.
Krause testified that “only 18-inch decorative walls are allowed in the setback area.”
After removing the trees and invading the setback area, Glendale Unified added 50 to 70 parking spaces on the site.
Krause said a parking-lot modification would also have been required from the city, but Glendale Unified officials did not seek a modification, according to court records.
Some parking spots were located on the property line. Early in the morning, employees would park their cars about 3 feet from the tenants’ bedroom windows and talk loudly, disrupting their sleep, according to tenants’ testimony.
Some employees would arrive at work as early as 5:30 a.m. — another violation of a variance that states they cannot arrive any earlier than 7 a.m.
When the O’Donnells complained about the construction to city officials, “the city of Glendale told the plaintiffs that there was nothing it could do,” court records show.
The illegal construction led to more cars parking on the site and more noise, according to Murphy’s decision.
“The actions of Glendale Unified constituted nuisances,” Murphy stated.
The school district’s facilities director, Christopher Smith, did not dispute in trial that the construction project, which cost Glendale Unified $170,000, violated municipal codes.
“[Smith] conceded at trial that Glendale Unified was required to obtain a permit to erect the block wall along Palmer. Glendale Unified’s only explanation for not getting a building permit and being in violation of the 1956 variance and the municipal code is that it was ignorant of the need to get a building permit and to comply with the 1956 variance and municipal code,” court records show.
Murphy ruled that Glendale Unified must “return the front- and side-yard setbacks” so it complies with the 1956 variance, and place the wall 20 feet from Palmer Avenue.
Employees must not be on the site between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.
In a statement they released through their attorney Craig Sherman, the O’Donnells said they were pleased with the judge’s decision.
“We were sick and tired of Glendale Unified school district using a residential property as a commercial site without any regards to the neighborhood or any accountability to the variance terms it agreed to in order to even have the [facilities operation].”
Kristine Nam, a spokeswoman for Glendale Unified, said the district declined to comment on the ruling.
“We are still researching the impact of this decision, so we do not have a response at this time,” she said in an email.
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
