City Delays Vote on Historic Sites

Because two members were absent, the Glendale City Council this week postponed action on a proposed ordinance to protect historically significant buildings and sites.

However, the three members present--Councilmen Larry Zarian, John F. Day and Carl Raggio--all expressed concerns that the ordinance might violate the rights of property owners.

The ordinance would create a commission authorized to review plans to alter or demolish historic sites, with authority to recommend that the council prohibit an owner from making changes.

Mayor Jerold Milner and Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg, who introduced the ordinance last week, were absent from the council meeting Tuesday and the other three agreed to delay action until Aug. 6 to allow all members to vote. Members of the Glendale Historical Society said Tuesday that a task force has been formed in an attempt to preserve the Goode house for private use, possibly as a bed-and-breakfast hotel or as an office building.

Incentives for Owners

Judith Johnson, task force director, said tax credits, grants and other financial incentives could benefit property owners who preserve historical sites.

An emergency ordinance adopted in May forestalled demolition of the 97-year-old former home of Edgar D. Goode, a pioneer of Glendale development. The house at 119 N. Cedar St., built in the Queen Anne style, has been called the last of its kind on an original site in Glendale.

Calvin Rodriquez of El Cajon, co-owner of the house, had agreed to sell the property to a developer who planned to raze it and build apartments.

The moratorium, in effect until Aug. 20, has jeopardized the sale, which Rodriquez said caused financial hardships. The moratorium also has blocked plans by the Glendale Elks Lodge to demolish its 69-year-old building at 120 E. Colorado Blvd. and sell some of the land to raise money for construction of a new building.

The Goode house, the Elks Lodge and about 30 other sites in the city were listed as worthy of preservation in the city’s general plan, adopted in 1977, but the city has not acted to permanently preserve the sites.