Hearings Begin on Hillside Development : Government: A new policy, likely to be adopted by April, could limit the amount and design of projects to preserve the natural quality of the area.

After two decades of debate and 10 months of study by Glendale homeowners, business leaders and developers, formal hearings began this week to rewrite the city’s policy on hillside development.

The new policy, expected to be adopted by April, could dramatically curtail the amount and alter the type of building permitted in the remaining undeveloped hillsides.

Design guidelines would limit the size and shape of cuts into slopes in order to preserve as much as possible of the natural appearance of the hills, which “help to visually define the character of Glendale,” according to a 155-page draft ordinance.

Just how conservative, or flexible, the city should be in determining its policy, and exactly what should be protected in the hillsides, will be decided after the series of hearings over the next two months before the Planning Commission and City Council.

The undertaking requires changes to the city’s General Plan and amendments to the city’s grading, subdivision and zoning rules.

The changes are needed because the population and characteristics of the city have changed over the last 20 years, Planning Director John McKenna told an audience of about 75 homeowners, developers and civic leaders during the first hearing on Tuesday.

*

McKenna said the 30-square-mile city has grown from a largely white, single-family suburban community of 132,000 residents in 1972 to almost 190,000 residents today, half of whom are foreign born, live in multiple-unit developments and have larger families and a greater need for open space.

The community “has different lifestyles, different needs,” he said.

Representatives of several homeowner groups who were present Tuesday praised the scope and content of a 125-page draft Open Space and Conservation Element that, if adopted, would replace guidelines established in 1972.

The new element would set the goals and policies for development, or preservation, of the remaining open space in the city, of which only 1,540 acres are still privately owned, including vacant lots. The city and other public agencies own a total of 5,860 acres of open space, acquired through a series of donations and purchases since 1913, planning officials said.

Many residents and officials are concerned “over the loss of the hillside character which frames the city,” because of grading of prominent ridges, the creation of large manufactured slopes, loss of native vegetation and “housing designs better suited for flat terrain,” according to the proposed ordinance.

Unlike the old policy, new guidelines would protect so-called secondary ridges, which are lower in elevation than the primary ridges that form the skyline in the three mountainous areas: the San Rafael Hills, Verdugo Mountains and San Gabriel Mountains.

*

An ordinance adopted in 1981 protects primary ridges, but many homeowners, planners and city officials have since argued that secondary ridges are just as important to preserving the natural backdrop of the hills.

Additional hearings before the Planning Commission are scheduled for Feb. 2 on grading and subdivision rules; Feb. 16 on changes to zoning rules governing density, and Feb. 23, when the commission is expected to adopt recommendations to be sent to the City Council.

All of the commission hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Hearing Room 105 of the Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway.

The City Council is expected to take up the matter on March 2 at 6 p.m. in the council chamber at City Hall, 613 E. Broadway. Additional council hearings are expected but not yet scheduled.

Three council members who will retire in April--Mayor Carl Raggio, Ginger Bremberg and Dick Jutras--said they are eager to settle the issue before their terms expire.

The current zoning ordinance, adopted in 1979, is broad and does not provide specific guidelines for hillside development depending on the steepness of terrain and the habitat, streams, woodlands and other mountainous features, said James Glaser, planning services administrator.

The proposed new ordinance is far more complex and stringent. Lot sizes, for instance, would be increased from a current minimum of 7,500 square feet to 14,500 square feet. The slope of cuts into hillsides would be less severe and height limitations significantly lowered. House design would have to conform to hillsides, with pads cut at several levels down a slope rather than one large cut to create a flat pad to accommodate conventional-design construction, Glaser said.

The greatest controversy is expected to arise at the Feb. 16 hearing, when limitations on the number of homes that would be permitted in new hillside subdivisions will be discussed.

Depending on the steepness of slopes, the current General Plan permits one to three units per acre in areas designated as very low density residential/open space. New rules could permit as few as one unit per five acres in such zones. Subdivisions with clustered housing are encouraged to preserve open space, but even then, density could be limited to only 1.5 units per acre.

Developers have argued in earlier meetings that the proposed rules are too stringent and would make any hillside development impossible.

Homeowner representatives, however, have said the proposed rules may not go far enough to protect the natural resources in the hills. Representatives of both positions are expected to continue their arguments before the commission.

Public comment on the new rules will be accepted at the hearings and in writing until Feb. 23. Free copies of the proposals are available at the Planning Division in the Municipal Services Building and may be viewed at the city’s branch libraries.