Letters to the Editor: Glendale mayor appreciates Portantino’s decision to hold SB 50
I want to thank state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) for holding Senate Bill 50 in the Senate appropriations committee.
SB 50 would have given developers tremendous authority to override local decision-making and community input. Under this bill, developers would have been given new rights to build high-density apartments and condominiums without local approval and without addressing concerns like traffic congestion, parking or lack of local services.
It would have replaced thoughtful, inclusive community planning with a Sacramento top-down housing mandate that erodes local community input about the type of development that gets built in our neighborhoods.
The presumption behind SB 50 is that cities are not doing their proper urban planning and they’re not doing enough to create housing.
In Glendale, nothing could be further from the truth. We are going to great lengths to plan in such a way to ensure housing can be built in appropriate areas, with appropriate amenities such as public transit taken into account.
Glendale stands ready to do its part to address the housing needs of this state. However, SB 50 is not the answer. Glendale will continue to maintain its single-family home zoning, as well as work to produce affordable housing.
Mayor Ara J. Najarian
Glendale