Polygon, Glendale Reach Settlement on Hillside Tract

A controversial development of luxury hillside homes in Glenmore Canyon will be revived under a deal between the city and Polygon Communities, the Irvine developer whose first proposal three years ago was buried under community opposition.

City Atty. Scott Howard said an accord has been reached under which Polygon will scale back its plans for the 29-acre hillside site from 41 homes to 35 and suspend its $6-million lawsuit against Glendale in return for an exemption from the density limits in the city’s hillside protection ordinance.

The deal was approved by the City Council in a closed meeting earlier this week. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge is expected to sign an order suspending Polygon’s lawsuit today, Howard said.

“We have spent over $300,000 on litigation defending this case already,” Howard said. “We felt we had a winnable case, but no matter who won, there certainly would have been an appeal and further legal costs. This is a chance for both parties to step back and stop the incurrence of legal fees, and for [Polygon] to submit something that is more reasonable.”

The deal includes more than twice the number of homes than city planners say would be allowed under current hillside density guidelines contained in a hillside protection ordinance that passed in March 1993.

The project, called Polygon II, was loudly opposed by homeowner groups and ultimately rejected by the City Council in February 1993. In the lawsuit, Polygon alleged the city applied the standards of the ordinance to its project even though the ordinance had not yet been passed.

Howard said Polygon will be allowed to reapply under regulations that were in effect before adoption of the hillside protection ordinance. The developer will submit revised plans for the project in July, and the agreement gives the city until October to approve or deny it. If the plan is rejected, the lawsuit will be reinstated, Howard said.

Councilwoman Eileen Givens, who voted against the project in 1993, said the council--which has three new members since the project was last debated--has struggled with its desire to uphold the ordinance in the face of litigation, lawyers’ fees and possible judgments.

“I want to protect Glendale’s dwindling hillside resources as much as the law will allow, but there are many things to consider,” Givens said.

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The site, located just west of the Glendale Freeway at Mountain Street, is covered with steep terrain. Previous versions of the plan involved grading 600,000 cubic yards of dirt and lowering a prominent ridgeline by 100 feet.

But more than the fate of the hills, activists say they are worried about College View School, a campus for severely handicapped children located on Mountain Street at the foot of the Polygon property.

Polygon holds easements allowing construction crews to use part of the school property as the main access to the construction site.

Rob Sharkey, a spokesman for the Glenmore Canyon Homeowners Assn., said his group will be watching to ensure the project “leaves those children undisturbed.”

“By going through the school campus and threatening those kids, it creates a different level of confrontation,” Sharkey said. “Yes, we are concerned about the decapitation of the hills, but protecting those children has become a moral and ethical issue.”

Polygon is best known in Glendale as developer of Rancho San Rafael, the city’s largest subdivision with 544 homes on 316 acres located across the Glendale Freeway from Polygon II. That project’s massive grading caused a public outcry and a two-year ban on hillside development from 1990 to 1992.

The company first applied to develop the property in 1989, proposing 61 luxury homes in an exclusive, gated community. By February 1993 it had been scaled down to 41 homes but was still turned down, with one council member calling it a “rape” of the hillside.

In its lawsuit, filed three months later, the developer accused the city of denying Polygon “fair use” of its property and demanded payment for the land. At the time, Polygon officials said they had invested $6 million in the site, and that they would merely break even if the project were built.

“If there is a settlement, they would want to begin moving forward,” said Marlene Roth, a consultant to Polygon.

“Will they ever make money on it? It’s hard to guess at this point. If homes start selling and prices escalate, they probably could.”

Former Glendale mayor and school board member Carl Raggio said the city and school district should not approve any development unless Polygon takes specific steps to protect the school.

“The council ought to be very discretionary. This is a special case. There are very few schools like this, and you’ve got some very special people there,” Raggio said.

Opened in 1977, College View has special features for its 100 mentally and physically handicapped students. The students, ranging in age from 3 to 21, come from Glendale and nearby school districts.

Glendale schools Supt. Robert Sanchis said the district will ask, as it did before, that a plan to minimize the effects of construction on College View be included in any deal. The plan addresses the scheduling of construction work to avoid traffic jams during school hours among other issues.

“It’s been our position that the issue of whether or not development should take place on that property rests with the city and Polygon, not with us,” Sanchis said.

Givens said it is too early to speculate about how the issue of the school will be dealt with.

“The impact on that school and its students is important. Is it the only issue? No, but it is a special circumstance having that school there, and we have to look at it closely,” she said.