Historic District Update
By Dr. Annet Arakalian and Joanna Pringle
With heavy hearts, but with renewed determination, residents Dr. Annet Arakalian, Dr. Domenico Ingenito, and Joanna Pringle withdrew their application to make Verdugo Woodland West a historic district. After three and a half years of effort and what we believe was the overwhelming support of Woodlands residents, we made the difficult decision based on a longer-term plan for success. The unyielding opposition by two City Council members who do not live in our neighborhood — Ara Najarian and Elen Asatryan — left us no choice at this point.
We love VWW all the more because of you!
We cannot thank our neighbors enough for their hard work and zeal in preserving and protecting the Woodlands. And we appreciate Councilmembers Ardy Kassakhian and Vartan Gharpetian for their enthusiastic backing of the project.
Constant Delays
The first hurdle we faced was the repeated delays in the administrative timetable, which coincided, ironically, with city efforts to streamline the historic district application process!
Finally, after more than two years, on August 15, 2024, the Historic Preservation Commission determined that our neighborhood easily merits designation as a historic district. The commission voted unanimously to proceed with the hiring of a historic preservation consultant to conduct a survey and recommended that the City Council approve the $91,000 cost of the study.
Political Roadblocks Persisted
Unfortunately, we then encountered resistance within City Hall. City Attorney Mike Garcia expressed concern that conflict of interest rules could bar Mayor Najarian and Councilmembers Dan Brotman and Vartan Gharpetian from voting for the expenditure because they own property within 500 feet of the district boundaries. We believed this was an overly broad application of the conflict rule — one that prevented our elected representatives from acting on their constituents’ behalf.
After another delay of 10 months, the vote was finally scheduled for August 12, 2025, and the three councilmembers with a conflict would draw straws to select one to join the two who were not conflicted. These three would constitute a majority to vote on the cost item, which needed all three votes to pass. Thus Councilmember Asatryan was in a position to block the survey and ensure the Woodlands remained unprotected from the type of overdevelopment that threatens to destroy our neighborhood’s character and lower our property values.
In the meantime, Councilman Brotman, citing the city’s need to recoup $300 million to avoid layoffs of police officers and firefighters, said it would be hard to vote for the $91,000 expenditure at this time.
And so it became clear that our representatives would deny all Woodlands residents the democratic opportunity to sign a petition in favor of or in opposition to a historic designation.
Thus, we withdrew our application and opted to wait until voters elect a City Council that values the benefits that historic districts bring to the whole of Glendale, just as the 40 historic districts do for Pasadena, to name one example. That will require greater coordination among the many Glendale organizations that place the city’s quality of life ahead of the financial interests of land developers. We’ll be back!
Read the Historic District Application submitted to the City of Glendale on May 31, 2022.
Facts about Historic Districts in Glendale
Property owners in Glendale have created nine historic districts covering over 1,300 homes to help preserve the character of their neighborhoods.
Historic District Design Guidelines help ensure that changes to a house or garage, when visible from the street only, will be compatible with its architectural style and existing features.
Do I need to remodel my house to get rid of changes that are not historic? NO!
Can I still add to my house? YES!
Can I put in a pool? As long as it’s in the backyard, YES!
Can I build an ADU and a JADU? YES!
Will the City tell me what color to paint my house? NO!
Does the historic district extend to my home’s interior? NO!
Do I need a permit to perform routine maintenance and repair? NO!
Do I need a permit to change windows, siding, roof, front door? OF COURSE!
This is Glendale! You already need permits for most alterations.
Do I need to go to a Commission to make changes? Not if they conform to the Design Guidelines! If you want, say, to build an addition over 700 square feet, you go to the Historic Preservation Commission INSTEAD of the Design Review Board (not both!).
The vast majority of work in Glendale historic districts is approved at the staff level without a hearing.
We think the Verdugo Woodlands is a wonderful neighborhood worth preserving. Don’t you?