Moratorium May Halt 70 Glendale Projects

A Glendale City Council committee reported Tuesday that construction of as many as 70 apartment buildings and condominiums may be temporarily halted by a moratorium approved last month.

The council appointed the four-member committee after developers charged that the moratorium blocks the issuance of building permits for many multi-family residential units that have nearly completed the long process required for city approval.

The head of the committee, Assistant City Manager Robert McFall, told the council Tuesday that 84 building plans were submitted but not fully approved by the city as of the moratorium’s Sept. 27 cutoff date.

McFall said 54 builders requested that the committee review their projects. By Tuesday, the committee had reviewed 34, determining that 11 were already through the permit process and would not be affected by the moratorium.

The committee will complete its review of the projects and submit a full report at the council’s next meeting Tuesday.

The report will outline how many of the 84 projects have reached “key departure points” and are near approval, McFall said.

The council is expected to decide then whether to exempt any projects that have not reached that point.

Council members unanimously approved the moratorium last month to prevent a rush of proposed new projects while the city considers imposing stricter rules on new development.

Developers appearing at Tuesday’s council meeting asked the city to revise the moratorium to allow permits for projects that have almost completed the approval process, which can last six to eight months, according to city officials.

“If a guy’s running a 100-yard dash, you just don’t stop him after 50 yards and say don’t run anymore,” said Albert Rozzano, a developer who said he has worked in Glendale since 1945.

But several residents expressed their support for the five-month moratorium, arguing that unrestrained development has caused parking problems, traffic congestion and overcrowding in local schools.

“I appreciate your moratorium,” Barbara Alm, a representative of the Adams Hill Homeowners Assn., told the council. “I just wish it were longer.”