Annual Quota on Building Permits Weighed

Glendale officials, who have been wrestling with a zoning plan to reduce the number of apartments or condominiums that could be built on a single lot, returned their attention this month to a second growth-control tool--a building cap ordinance.

Such a law would limit the number of residential building permits issued each year.

City Council members have asked for both measures--the so-called “downzoning program” and the building cap ordinance--to be ready for final review at the end of August. Council members want to have the new limits in place before they lift a freeze on apartment and condominium construction enacted in September, 1988.

Both measures are aimed at reducing traffic congestion, crowded schools and other problems that have resulted from Glendale’s boom in apartment and condominium construction. Councilman Jerold Milner said developers cannot be trusted to voluntarily refrain from constructing apartments.

“The thing you come down to is that all laws are written for people who cannot use good judgment,” he said. “There does need to be a maximum on how many can be built at one time. Left to the free market, you run the risk of excesses being driven by individuals who have no concern for the overall community.”

The council finished the bulk of its work on the downzoning plan last month and is preparing to consider the building cap, which it instructed the staff to prepare last year.

On July 9, city staff members presented the proposal to the Glendale Planning Commission, which will make recommendations to the council. At that meeting, no members of the public spoke in favor of or against the measure, under which the city annually would issue building permits for no more than 1,400 new housing units through 1994.

Commission members said they wanted more time to study the proposal and postponed a vote until a special meeting at 3 p.m. July 30.

“I believe that a building cap ordinance is one of the better ways of accommodating managed growth,” Commissioner Don M. Pearson said. “My biggest concern is whether the rate is appropriate.”

The cap is designed to slow the apartment construction boom that began in Glendale during the 1980s. A peak was reached in 1986 when the city issued more than 4,500 residential building permits.

In theory, the cap would allow schools and city services to keep up with the population increase.

“It regulates the rate or pace of the city’s growth,” said James Glaser, a Glendale city planner.

He said the measure is also designed to encourage construction of more affordable housing and higher-quality projects.

Under the proposal, Glendale would annually issue building permits for up to 740 apartment or condominium units that meet the city’s definition of affordable housing. These would be issued on a first-come, first-served basis to projects in which at least half of the units are guaranteed to be affordable to lower-income households.

The city would also issue permits for up to 660 units in which the rent or sale price would be based on prevailing economic conditions. The City Council would allocate these market-rate units each quarter after city staff members review and rank the proposed projects.

Higher rankings would be given to apartment and condominium projects that have less impact on schools, parks and utility services, have plenty of off-street parking, make use of attractive landscaping and water-conserving plants, and have energy-efficient equipment such as solar heating units.

A project would also be ranked higher if it provides for special housing needs, such as accessibility for disabled people and opportunities for moderate-income families to purchase their units.

City officials said the competition for permits will encourage developers to propose their best-designed projects, instead of just meeting minimum building standards.

Glaser said a developer could not upgrade his design immediately after it is reviewed in order to get a higher ranking. The developer would have to submit it again with modifications during the next quarter’s review period.

During a study session on the building cap proposal, Planning Commissioner Gary Tobian expressed concern that the additional review could pose a hardship for some developers. “We’re adding three months to the process,” he said.

Permits for single-family detached houses would be subtracted from the 660-unit annual allocation, but such houses would not have to undergo the ranking review. Some types of housing, such as hotels, affordable senior citizens projects and condominium conversions, would be exempt from the allocation process.

Since the July 9 commission meeting, some members of Glendale’s business community have criticized the building cap proposal.

“If you put a cap on it, the free-market economy doesn’t work,” said Aulden Schlatter, executive vice president of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. “I’m not sure you accomplish what you want to do. You trade one set of problems for another.”

If developers want to build more apartments or condominiums than the city allows, “you force the prices up for those who want to rent or buy,” Schlatter said.

He said a chamber committee is studying the building cap ordinance and will likely comment on it to the Planning Commission or the City Council.

“I believe there is enough restriction already, enough limitations, enough reductions,” said Hamo Rostamian, a Glendale developer and real estate broker. “The cap is just something that is maybe an overkill.”

Rostamian said apartment building in Glendale has already slowed considerably because of savings and loan scandals, financing difficulties, and rising land and operating costs. He estimated that there are 350 apartment buildings for sale in Glendale, contrasted with about 150 two years ago.

“It’s not very attractive to get into building apartments in Glendale,” he said.

The proposed building cap and its accompanying review process would further discourage apartment construction, Rostamian said.