Trio of meetings will help shape the future of south Glendale

Three meetings to discuss the development of a plan for south Glendale’s future will be held this month.

The South Glendale Community Plan will include elements that address the sentiments of residents in that area, ranging from new park space to traffic congestion, similar to a north Glendale plan adopted by the City Council in 2011.

This series of meeting follows an effort by the city that started in the fall of 2013 through mid-2015, where the city sought suggestions regarding what improvements residents would like to see in south Glendale.

Events such as a community festival and a Halloween event were held to gather input from residents.

In 2014, the city received the Public Outreach Award of Merit from the California chapter of the American Planning Assn. for its outreach efforts on the South Glendale Community Plan.

The upcoming meetings will be an opportunity for residents, city planners and council members to establish land-use policies that are exclusive to the neighborhood, said Alan Loomis, the city’s deputy director of urban design and mobility.

“Principally, what it’s useful for is being able to provide clarity as to how the community would like to evolve in the future,” he said.

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Once adopted, these types of plans usually stay in place for 20 to 30 years, Loomis said.

The north Glendale plan, for example, adhered to community feedback to keep the former Rockhaven Sanitarium open to the public as well as establish improvements and welcome signs on Foothill Boulevard.

Refreshing outdated guidelines could have prevented the controversy over the Aloft hotel project proposed at Brand Boulevard and Dryden Avenue, he said. Opponents of the project said the building was too big and out of character with the neighborhood.

“The various controversies that percolate up against developments such as the Aloft hotel … is the result of a plan for the city being 30 years out of date,” Loomis said. “It doesn’t reflect anything resembling current demographics.”

Rondi Werner, president of the Adams Hills Neighborhood Assn., said she already has plenty of issues in mind that could be addressed.

Her concerns include too many restaurants in her part of town doubling as banquet halls as well as a lack of park and open space in south Glendale.

“If the Armenian American Museum winds up in Central Park, we’re going to lose even more park space,” Werner said.

Additional traffic and density from the mixed-use development boom in downtown Glendale is also negatively affecting the quality of life in south Glendale, she said.

Another issue Werner would like discussed is overdevelopment in her own neighborhood via a streamlining process enacted three years ago that allowed some smaller multiunit apartments to be built with only staff’s approval, not a city commission.

“There should be a moratorium on further redevelopment until we see once all the pipeline projects have been finished, and people start living there,” Werner said.

Councilman Ara Najarian said density will have to be addressed but that discouraging new housing tends to drive up prices, while more units promote affordability.

He added that there are no surprise issues. It’s well known that density, parking, traffic and open space are among the top items for discussion.

“The real challenge is going to be working with planning staff, with residents and the council to try and create a plan, which will, through its implementation, alleviate those issues,” Najarian said. “That’s where the skill is involved.”

City Council members will attend each of the workshops and be presented with background information that planning staff has spent more than a year compiling, Loomis said.

After the workshops are held, council members will make their recommendations, and an environmental impact report will have to be conducted on the proposed south Glendale plan. A final version could be adopted as soon as next summer, Loomis said.

The first workshop will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the Planning Hearing Room, located at 633 E. Broadway, Room 105, and there will be a presentation about south Glendale’s development history.

The second workshop will be held on July 19 at the same place and time, and attendees will go over the future of the neighborhood. The third and final gathering on July 26 — also at the same place and time — will give an overview about transit in south Glendale.

Werner was critical of the meeting times because people who have day jobs won’t be able to attend.

Najarian said if the timing of the meetings does impact turnout, he would be in favor of adding some evening workshops.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian