By Mary O’KEEFE

A meeting is planned for May 20 when residents and community members can comment on the proposed plans for the Twelve Oaks Assisted Living property at 2820 Sycamore Ave. in La Crescenta-Glendale. The meeting will be at 5 p.m. in the Municipal Services Building located at the corner of Glendale Avenue and Broadway in Room 105.

The property is a unique oasis in the community, surrounded by trees and pathways. There was an area that held individual rooms and throughout the property were small cabin-type residential buildings. 

In 2013, residents and families at Twelve Oaks were given short notice that the facility was for sale and residents were being evicted. This was difficult news for the elderly residents and their families, but it also appeared that the management company did not have the right to sell the property. Twelve Oaks, at that time, had been operated by the be.group, formerly Southern California Presbyterian Homes. Rumors quickly spread about the facility being closed and developers coming in to build houses.

Though the be.group was the management company and not the owner of the property, a case was filed by the National Charity League (TOF), which went to court where a decision was made against the be.group. In 2020, TOF entered into an affiliation with the Episcopal Communities and Services (ECS) and, after evaluating the property, ECS found that it would have to close the assisted living facility and all of the buildings would need to be knocked down and a new facility built.