Azusa Acts to Halt Spread of Apartments : Housing: The city makes plans to rezone four neighborhoods for single-family homes. The move would curtail a proliferation of apartment buildings.

The City Council, after heated debate and over the objections of property owners, voted this week to draft an ordinance to rezone four neighborhoods for single-family homes, instead of the apartment buildings that have proliferated in the areas lately.

The council voted 4-1 to instruct the city attorney to draft the ordinance. Mayor Eugene Moses cast the dissenting vote. Passage of the ordinance would require two votes of the council. A first reading is scheduled for the next council meeting, on Feb. 20.

More than 70 people--most of them opposed to the proposed change--attended the three-hour public hearing Monday. The change would affect 51 properties, with 100 units among them.

Roy Bruckner, Azusa’s director of community development, said the measure is aimed at “slowing apartment development and minimizing disharmony between apartments and single-family houses.”

Dan Watrous, senior planner for the city, said buildings that do not conform to city zoning laws face demolition 20 to 30 years after the zone change, depending on the date the structure originally was built.

Those who oppose the plan complain it would contribute to blight.

“No bank will give you a loan on a property they know will be gone in 20 years,” said Marian Prefontaine, who owns a seven-unit apartment building on Angeleno Street. “We won’t be able to sell our properties, they’ll eventually deteriorate, and the neighborhood will deteriorate right down with it.”

Mayor Moses, voting against the proposal, said it would discourage developers from investing in Azusa and would take away any incentive for property owners to improve their apartment buildings.

“What will happen is that they (property owners) will put a coat of paint on their buildings and forget about it,” Moses said. “Why would someone put money into something they know they’ll lose?” The zone change would affect four areas: One is south of the Foothill Freeway; another is located at Crescent Drive and Angeleno Avenue; a third runs from Alameda Avenue to Pasadena Avenue, and the fourth is from Lemon Avenue to Angeleno Avenue.

Bruckner said the zoning change is needed to shift the city’s housing stock back to the proper balance. Currently, 51% of the residences in Azusa are rental units, he said, arguing that 30% apartments would be preferable.

The measure would also block new apartment construction in the areas.

Most of the 30 speakers at the hearing argued against the proposed ordinance. But a few favored it, citing problems caused by the proliferation of apartment buildings that they claim have changed the character of their single-family neighborhoods.

“I have found condoms and diapers thrown in my back yard from the apartment building next door,” said Mary Class, who lives on Soldano Avenue. “There is no parking on the street anymore and our privacy is destroyed. . . . The damage that apartment buildings have done to our community is enormous.”

Dave Rudisell, the city’s community improvement manager, said many of the apartments affected by the proposed rezoning are in poor condition; some have roach-infested kitchens, collapsing roofs and clogged plumbing. City officials said there aren’t enough building inspectors to eradicate such problems. Although the rezoning would not improve the conditions of these buildings, Rudisell said, it would stop the proliferation of such apartments.

“This will not only neutralize growth in the city but also clean the community,” Councilman Tony Naranjo added.

Azusa currently is under a moratorium on new apartment construction. The emergency measure, passed in 1988, expires next month. In preparation for the expiration, city officials launched a citywide zoning review.

The areas currently under consideration for rezoning were studied in the third and final phase of the study. The council already has passed ordinances to change the zoning in a number of other areas, including sections along Azusa Avenue and San Gabriel Avenue.