With whistles and applause from the crowd, the City Council on Tuesday took the first step to make a North Glendale neighborhood the city’s largest historic district, about four times the size of all its three other historic areas combined.
As council members showered the Rossmoyne neighborhood with praise, they said they hoped their efforts would be copied by others.
“I think it’s also something that’s going to encourage other neighborhoods,” said Mayor Frank Quintero.
Lorna Vartanian, a Rossmoyne resident who spearheaded the historic district application process who also serves as the Historic Preservation Commission president, said she was ecstatic.
“It really has been such an amazing community building project,” she said.
The historic designation will affect 504 properties built in the 1920s and bounded by Ethel Street, Glenoaks Boulevard, Cordova Avenue and Hillcroft Road. The properties range in style from English Tudor to Mediterranean Revival.
As a formality, the City Council must take a final vote on approving the historic district next week, but Quintero said approval is expected to be unanimous. The district brings layer of oversight rules and restrictions designed to preserve the original styles of the homes’ facades.
Vartanian and a group of residents collected signatures in support of the historic overlay zone from 71% of the affected property owners, beating the 50% threshold.
Several years ago, the City Council made it easier for neighborhoods to become a historic district. Before the change, residents needed unanimous support from affected households, which is no longer the case.
The city’s current historic districts — Royal Boulevard, Ard Eevin Highlands and Cottage Grove — cover 131 properties. There are two other neighborhoods, North Cumberland, with 179 homes, and Brockmont, with 58 homes, currently seeking historic status.
-- Brittany Levine, Times Community News