Planners OK Tough New Zoning Regulations

The Glendale Planning Commission approved a tough set of zoning code changes requiring smaller buildings, more landscaping and more parking for new apartments, condominiums and townhouses.

Commissioners agreed Monday to most changes proposed by the Planning Department, but also incorporated modifications suggested by the Glendale Chamber of Commerce to allow more flexibility in setback and parking standards and to eliminate a proposal to require pools and spas.

The commission also accepted a chamber suggestion to reduce the size of a proposed increase in parking space requirements for one-bedroom apartments. Commissioners said the revision would encourage construction of such units.

The City Council is scheduled to review the code revisions Feb. 28.

Different Construction

City officials said their goal was to curtail the construction of large, boxlike apartment buildings with four- or five-bedroom units. Often, they said, these buildings take up as much space as possible, consuming most of the grounds that would otherwise be landscaped.

To prevent an overflow of building permit applications during reevaluation of the city’s zoning code, the council adopted a 150-day apartment moratorium in September.

The Planning Department initially introduced a draft ordinance proposing the zoning changes to the commission in November. At the same time, the council asked the chamber to form an ad-hoc committee to study the proposed changes.

But progress was slower than expected. After a second public hearing Jan. 9, the commission voted to hold off its final recommendations until the chamber completed its evaluation. The next day, the council extended the moratorium until April 24 to give the Planning Commission time to finish its work.

The chamber’s input was considered crucial by the city officials, not only because it reflected the opinions of the primary interest groups that would be affected by the zoning changes--committee members included an engineer, an architect, a development consultant, Glendale homeowners and representatives of real estate development firms--but also because a similar chamber committee was instrumental in the city’s 1986 zoning changes.

The chamber’s findings were finally made available to the Planning Commission late last week and were introduced to the public at Monday’s hearing.

Committee Agrees

To the city planners’ relief, the chamber committee agreed with the city’s basic goals and suggested only minor changes to the draft ordinance. The city proposal was also endorsed by most homeowner groups.

The new ordinance would force developers to build shorter and smaller buildings that sit farther from the street, and to provide more parking and outdoor recreational facilities.

“It’s an excellent ordinance,” Planning Commission Chairman Don Pearson said after Monday’s meeting. “It goes a long way in achieving the community’s goal of having better quality buildings with more amenities, less traffic and more parking.”

Chamber of Commerce representative Richard Jutras, a City Council candidate in the upcoming municipal election, also praised the ordinance. “You can’t get a bad guy to build a good building, but this is as close as we can get to legislating aesthetics,” he said.

But not everyone was pleased. Haik Vartanian, spokesman for a group of developers calling themselves the Fair Growth Coalition, said he was unhappy with both the final product and the decision-making process leading up to it.

He said the ordinance had been decided between the chamber and the city.

“The chamber had to negotiate but gave up more than it should have,” he said, claiming that the Planning Commission paid only token attention to all other opinions.

As for the ordinance, Vartanian said: “I’m not too happy about it. The new ordinance would reduce the buildable area in a lot by 30%. It amounts to basic down-zoning.”