Glendale Council to Hold Aug. 28 Public Hearing on Multifamily Zoning Changes

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday set an Aug. 28 hearing to obtain final public comment on a turbulent two-year revision of the city’s multiple-family zoning in an effort to slow population growth.

The hearing will occur about two months before the expiration of a moratorium on construction of apartments and condominiums in Glendale, first imposed by the council in September, 1988.

“We’re getting very close to some kind of conclusion on this downzoning and a plan that will help us keep the population within limits,” Councilman Jerold Milner said. “We’re almost to the end of the tunnel.”

Because of summer vacations and work that must be completed by city planners, the council set Aug. 28 for a public hearing on the revised development rules. A vote would likely take place within a few weeks of the hearing.

“That’s when we hope to have the whole package brought to us,” Milner said. “The end result, we hope, will be a managed growth program for the next 10 to 15 years.”

Council members have said they want to permit no more than about 10,000 new housing units, limiting Glendale’s maximum population to about 240,000.

Downzoning would change city planning rules, permitting fewer housing units than are now allowed to be built on a lot. The tactic has sparked criticism from some property owners, who complained that downzoning would dramatically reduce the value of their land.

The council has tentatively endorsed a plan to cut in half the number of new units that can be built on 63% of the land zoned for multiple-family housing.

The remaining 37% has been divided into 25 areas in which the council wants to tailor the zoning rules to the character of the neighborhood. The council has tentatively approved plans to allow more apartments in some of these areas, while limiting other areas to single-family houses.

In the coming weeks, the city staff must prepare a “building cap” ordinance that would limit the number of new housing units that could be built each year.

Council members have expressed concern that some apartment owners would allow their buildings to deteriorate, rather than rebuild the smaller, less profitable complexes allowed after downzoning. Before the Aug. 28 hearing, city staff members are expected to prepare options that would encourage the rebuilding of older apartment complexes.