El Tovar finally makes the grade

Tim Willert

Dr. Rahim Karjoo, it turns out, can go home again.

The owner of the controversial El Tovar mansion got a thumbs-up

from the city’s chief building official late Wednesday, effectively

closing the book on more than a decade of legal wrangling and scandal

associated with the overbuilt home.

Glendale Building Official Stuart Tom declared Karjoo to be in

full compliance with Glendale building and zoning codes, approving a

set of permits that were scheduled to expire at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“City officials are very pleased that this project is finally

complete,” Tom said. “Efforts by all city staff involved to bring

this property into full compliance were well worth it.”

The approval means the city will not pursue a two-year-old court

order that could have led to the property being demolished, Senior

Assistant City Atty. Christina Sansone said Wednesday.

A certificate of occupancy is expected to be issued by the end of

the week for the 13,000-square-foot home at 3150 El Tovar Drive,

which has been unoccupied since Karjoo bought it in 1996, Tom said.

Approached at the sprawling home Wednesday afternoon, Karjoo

declined comment, but his son, Ramin, expressed relief that the city

was about to approve the project.

“We’re very happy with the way the city has handled everything,”

Ramin Karjoo said. “We’re happy that things are progressing nicely

and we’re looking forward to it all ending in a positive way for

everybody.”

Karjoo, who reportedly paid $1.2 million for the home, spent an

additional $1.3 million to satisfy city inspectors, according to

Ruben Asheghie, the project’s general contractor.

“They’ve been tough on us,” said Asheghie of inspectors, adding

that he has been on the job for more than a year. “But they’ve been

very cooperative.”

A host of city inspectors -- including those from the fire

department and design review board -- toured the property Tuesday and

Wednesday, signing off on their respective requirements. The brunt of

the work focused on the height of retaining walls surrounding the

property, but included the removal of a 300-square-foot portion of

Karjoo’s tennis court, Tom said.

The overbuilt home has been in the headlines since its original

owner, Aram Kazazian, built the 13,000-square-foot structure in the

early 1990s. Kazazian had obtained a building permit in 1989 calling

for an 8,000-square-foot building.

The ensuing controversy surrounding the home led to an overhaul of

the city’s building-permit process, and resulted in the 1997

suspension of a former Glendale building inspector.

The city filed a lawsuit against Karjoo in 1997, alleging

prolonged delays in addressing a number of code violations. The

property owner eventually sued the city, alleging his right to due

process had been violated by an April 2000 City Council decision in

which the council threw out variances -- permission to stray from

city code -- for the property that had been granted by Glendale’s

board of zoning adjustments.

Ramin Karjoo, meanwhile, said he and his father have no intention

of selling the sprawling home.

“The purpose for purchasing the house was so we could live in it,”

he said. “There’s no reason to change our minds now.”