Council OKs ‘Auto Row’ Plan : Growth: Dealerships will be expanded and nearby neighborhoods protected. South Brand Boulevard will have seven new commercial zones.

After more than a decade of debate and two years of intense study, the City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a plan to control and mold growth of the city’s “auto row” along South Brand Boulevard.

The plan provides for expansion of automobile dealerships while protecting nearby residential neighborhoods. On a 4-0 vote, the council approved a resolution revising the land-use element of the city’s General Plan. The changes will go into effect in 30 days.

Three ordinances to enact the specific plan, amend zoning laws and revise the Municipal Code will come up for a final vote next week.

The plan establishes seven new commercial zones along 16 blocks of South Brand Boulevard from Colorado Street to San Fernando Road, concentrated between Central and Glendale avenues.

Although representatives of both automobile dealers and residents have said there are aspects of the plan they do not like, officials called the latest plan a compromise.

“We finally have a plan, although not perfect, that will work,” said Jerrett S. Anderson, an attorney and executive secretary of the Glendale Motor Car Dealers Assn., which represents 32 franchises along the automobile strip. The new plan “allows for orderly development,” Anderson said.

Only a few residents opposed to the plan appeared at the council meeting; dozens of angry residents had attended earlier meetings. No representative of residents in favor of the plan, however, could be reached.

And several property owners have continued to oppose the plan. Anthony Randazzo, president of the South Glendale Property Owners Assn., urged the council to reject the plan, which he said will cause “a slow decay of entire blocks” of homes.

The plan is designed to shape an identity for South Brand for the first time since auto dealers began locating there in the 1920s. Until now, dealers have had to seek variances or other exceptions to city rules to expand their businesses, resulting in a hodgepodge in the prime commercial area, along with excessive traffic, parking congestion and noise in residential areas.

Among the new zones is a designation for auto-office development that will allow dealers to expand by building office and storage buildings up to six stories high. Current rules limit development to three stories.

The plan will also allow about five acres of residential property within the 175-acre area to be converted to commercial auto use. A proposal by city planners introduced last October would have converted almost 60 acres of residential property for other uses.

Dozens of study sessions and community meetings have been held in the last two years to develop the plan, written primarily by Planning Services Administrator James Glaser.

The plan requires a four-fifths vote of the council for adoption because it entails zone changes. Councilman Larry Zarian is prohibited from voting on the plan because he owns commercial property that may be affected by the changes. Consequently, the four remaining council members must agree on all aspects of the plan.

Several council members said Tuesday that they want to study landscaping proposals in the plan, including installation of median dividers and street trees along South Brand similar to landscaping along North Brand Boulevard in the downtown redevelopment zone.