Residents push for density change

North Central Avenue residents pick up support for effort to downzone their neighborhood.CITY HALL -- Residents of a North Central Avenue neighborhood have a new ally in their fight to downzone their area: the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn.

Since last September, homeowners and renters in Area 14 -- a roughly block-long stretch around North Central between Randolph Street in the north and Lorraine Street in the south -- have been arguing in vain to have the City Council rezone their neighborhood from the current R-1250 designation to the stricter R-2250 zone. Areas zoned R-1250 allow one dwelling unit per 1,250 square feet of lot area, while developers in R-2250 zones can only build one unit for every 2,250 square feet of lot space.

On Sept. 27, the council voted against rezoning Area 14 to the R-2250 designation -- which would drastically reduce the amount of residential units that could be built in the neighborhood -- despite recommendations for downzoning from the Planning Commission and Planning Department staffers. But constant lobbying from area residents seemed to have an effect after the council referred the matter back to the Planning Commission last month, recommending a medium-density, R-1650 designation as a compromise.

Last week, Peter Fuad, president of the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn., sent a letter to the Planning Commission urging its members to stick to their original recommendation of R-2250.

“The so-called compromise of R-1650 will not stop the proposed dense development of the area,” Fuad said in the letter. “It is just a fig leaf that will nonetheless facilitate destruction of a beautiful, established neighborhood. Area 14 is a prominent, leafy gateway to northwest Glendale that provides a much-needed ‘island of serenity’ to offset the effects of previous overdevelopment in the area.”

While the city encourages stable, attractive neighborhoods with more opportunities for affordable housing, maintaining Area 14’s zoning would destroy just such a neighborhood, Fuad added.

“And we reject the notion that this is a case of all or nothing,” he said. “That is a false choice. As an independent commission, [the Planning Commission] has the power and responsibility to act in the best interests of its neighborhoods and to reflect the overwhelming desire of its residents.”

But the commission at this point does not have the power to forward its original recommendation to the council, Councilman Bob Yousefian said.

“What is in front of the Planning Commission is only going to be R-1650; I don’t think they have the latitude to vote on anything else,” Yousefian said.

“Now they could turn [R-1650] down, and if they do it basically stays at the current zoning designation. The bottom line is if people keep pushing for R-2250 or nothing, then they will have nothing.”

Yousefian noted that even if the commission recommends the 1,650-square-foot compromise, the matter still needs to come back to the City Council and garner a four-fifths vote before any zoning is changed.

Despite Yousefian’s assertions, the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn.’s endorsement of stricter density regulations for the North Central neighborhood was encouraging to Jose Chavez, who has led the fight for downzoning in the area.

“My feeling is that this is only consistent with what we have been saying, and that is that this is not a Glendale Gardens or Jose Chavez issue,” said Chavez, referring to a heavily landscaped apartment complex in the area that residents fear will be replaced with densely packed apartments or condominiums under the current zoning.

“This is a citywide issue.”

QUESTION

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