Hillside development before council

Buck Wargo

CITY HALL -- A controversial hillside development will be decided

tonight by the Glendale City Council.

It’s not the proposed 576-homes for the Oakmont View V subdivision.

Instead, the council will consider an appeal of the Chevy Chase Estates

Assn., which is fighting plans for the construction of two homes at 2424

and 2429 Cascadia Drive.

The homes would be built on slopes averaging 83% and 68.5%. Permits

are required for slopes of greater than 50%, and the two homes were

approved by the zoning administrator and by a 3-2 vote of the Board of

Zoning Adjustments.

A month ago, the council voted 5-0 to hear the appeal of the

association. Glendale resident and developer Mark Abrahamian is the

applicant.

Planning Director John McKenna recommended the decision of the Board

of Zoning Adjustments be reversed, saying a smaller lower profile

development is possible. The current proposal is not compatible with the

neighborhood, he said.

“The massive three-story height at street level would be fully

visible, unlike the low, one-story visible character of most development

in the area,” McKenna stated in a report to the council.

Abrahamian, who plans on living in one of the homes, said he has more

than $200,000 tied up in land purchases and architectural fees. He said

he fears he will be used as an example to stop building on hillside lots

with a slope of greater than 50%.

Since 1993 when a more restrictive hillside ordinance was adopted, the

city has approved 10 of 11 applications for such conditional-use permits.

“They have adopted so many houses over 50%,” Abrahamian said. “Why are

they suddenly doing this to us? If they do it, I am going to challenge

the hillside ordinance in court.”

Several Chevy Chase Estates homeowners are expected to speak out

against the housing plans. The project is more fitting for Brand

Boulevard, according to association President Gerald Briggs.

Dick Murray, vice president, said the hillside ordinance would be

violated, and nothing should be built on lots exceeding 50%.

“With 80% slope and a three-story house, it is going to look like an

eight-story building,” Murray said.

Abrahamian said calling the slope 83% is inaccurate. The slope was cut

to that level 80 to 100 years ago, and the new homes will improve the

area, he said.

“It is not like I am building 50 homes,” Abrahamian said. “This is not

jeopardizing the neighborhood.”

IN OTHER ACTION

The Glendale City Council will meet at 6 p.m. today in the council

chambers of City Hall, 613 E. Broadway. The Glendale Housing Authority

will meet at 2:30 p.m. and the Glendale Redevelopment Agency will meet at

3:30 p.m. The council will meet at 9 a.m. to discuss its long-range

financial plan. The meetings will be broadcast live on Charter

Communications Channel 6. In other action, the council will consider:

* an update on an affordable housing project at 337 W. Vine St.

* purchasing downtown property at 226 S. Orange St. for $553,470.