Firm to survey historic merits of South Glendale

The Glendale City Council approved a study this week that will examine the historical significance of nearly 9,000 lots throughout south Glendale.

Under the council’s unanimous decision reached Tuesday, $80,000 will be appropriated to Historic Resources Group for the project, which will involve reaching preliminary judgments on a property’s historic merits based on photographic evidence and the referencing of previous surveys and other records.

The Pasadena-based firm has done work for the city in the past. City officials noted the firm’s studies of the Ard Eevin Highlands and Royal Boulevard historic districts.

A need for the survey, which is expected to start this fall and be completed by early next year, was brought up during community meetings in July that gathered input for the South Glendale Community Plan.

The plan, similar to one approved in 2011 for north Glendale, will act as a guide for future development south of the Ventura (134) Freeway, an area that includes Adams Hill, Citrus Grove and downtown.

Councilwoman Laura Friedman stressed the need for the survey, noting that it will help in situations when buyers purchase properties they don’t think are historic, only to find advocacy groups fighting against changes to those properties because they believe they actually are.

“I think we owe it to our community and to the developers to identify those properties upfront, so that there’s some kind of certainty, or at least more information, being given to everybody,” she said.

Arlene Vidor, chairwoman of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and a resident of south Glendale, noted that her part of the city is its historic core.

“We have a lot of resources that we’ve already discovered and probably many more that we could discover,” she said.

City officials said of the 9,000 lots in south Glendale — the most densely populated area of the city — fewer than 200 were built after the year 2000.

The Glendale Historical Society and other interested parties will have a chance to comment on Historic Resources Group’s work before the South Glendale Community Plan’s environmental impact report is finalized next summer.

Funding for the survey was taken from a $100,000 settlement agreement from 2014 earmarked for historic preservation purposes, according to city staff.

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Bradley Zint, bradley.zint@latimes.com