Developer Gets OK to Scrape Ridge Top
The Glendale City Council will allow a developer to scrape off the top of a prominent ridge in order to fill in a hole and complete a controversial subdivision in the Verdugo Mountains.
The council’s decision this week gives Gregg-Gangi Development Co. permission to cut up to 70 feet from a ridge to obtain a quarter-million cubic yards of earth needed to complete the Oakmont View subdivision.
Otherwise, the developers would have had to truck in the dirt needed to fill the six-acre hole, which would have disrupted the quiet hillside neighborhood of expensive homes for at least 1 1/2 years, city officials said.
“I don’t think that I have ever agonized over a decision as much as I have agonized over this one,” said Councilman Larry Zarian.
City officials said developers miscalculated how much dirt they needed to complete the 197-lot subdivision of exclusive view homes above the Oakmont Country Club. The project, approved in 1976, lacks about 25,000 truckloads of dirt needed to fill in an area for the final 25 lots, worth at least $5 million.
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