By Julie BUTCHER

“For years, you’ve been asked for the greatest amount of preservation of Rockhaven with the least amount of change,” Glendale resident Lisa Morris addressed the Glendale City Council at its Tuesday night meeting, “but what you are doing takes out four of nine rooms. I want to walk into it and see it as it was back then, like you’ve done with Casa Verdugo. We’re glad to see this moving forward but hope to see more cooperation with the Friends of Rockhaven.”

The Council voted unanimously to “adopt the project plans and specification, authorize the city clerk to advertise for bids and approve a PSA [professional services agreement] for $304,730 with the consultant Maestro for construction management services for the project,” described by the staff of Public Works as a “network of renovated walkways, ramps, hardscape, landscaping and irrigation improvements, and interior and exterior repairs to the Pines Cottage” in anticipation of a museum and other potential uses for the historic property.

As described in the staff report, “Rockhaven Sanitarium is a 3.4-acre site with 15 buildings located at 2713 Honolulu Avenue. The former women’s sanitarium was acquired in April 2008 and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2016. There have been three attempts since 2014 to partner with private entities to renovate the site . . .  [i]n June 2021, State Senator Anthony Portantino announced an $8,000,000 State grant to preserve Rockhaven and provide for a museum. The grant agreement was executed in March 2023. Per the agreement the project must be completed by March 1, 2026.”

Community Development deputy director Mark Berry reported that based on updated plans rooms in the Pines Cottage would be repurposed but preserved, and that the historic bathroom tile would be preserved as much as possible. Only one wall would be removed between two closets. 

Councilmember Dan Brotman emphasized his interest in acting “with the lightest possible touch” regarding Rockhaven and noted that facilities may be needed in the future “so it can be a park.” 

“We want it to be a publicly accessible space people may want to go to when the museum isn’t open,” he said. 

“I really appreciate the Friends of Rockhaven and their commitment to this for all these years,” Brotman added.

The Council revisited last week’s debate over new drive-throughs, comparing the use of design standards versus the requirement for businesses to secure a conditional use permit. Design standards, Community Development Director Bradley Calvert explained, offer clear objective requirements and enable the city to set specific requirements but the requirements could be too rigid and potentially negatively impact good actors. Design standards might be challenging to modify and would take at least six months to complete. 

The conditional use process, on the other hand, would start with baseline development standards but would also add flexibility to set standards based on the existing circumstances and could be changed based on changing conditions. The city could limit the zones in which drive-throughs are allowed; CUPs are revokable and could be modified upon renewal.

Those who addressed the Council on this primarily echoed last week’s concerns about a potential In-N-Out on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Burchett Street. Linda Beck described significant traffic in the area already. She noted that the proposed restaurant would be “right at the end of the freeway.” She implored the council to “put the needs of the people ahead of the need of Lynsi Snyder and her burgers.”

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian offered a hybrid approach, requiring a CUP for the “highest tier” of businesses, such as burger and coffee shops, but not for “regular” uses. This approach was ultimately approved unanimously.

“This is how the salami is made,” Councilmember Brotman observed about the process of reaching a compromise on the issue.

Glendale Water and Power (GWP) acting general manager Scott Mellon updated the Council on the fire that erupted on the 2100 block of Haven Street on Monday morning causing the closure of one lane of the SR-2 Freeway. 

“Luckily the fire department jumped on it and knocked it down pretty quickly,” Mellon said, reporting that the fire grew to half an acre and was near a power pole. The GWP crew found damage to the very top of the power pole and exposed wire with several pieces of a Mylar balloon as well as a whole Mylar balloon that had lit up the ground underneath the pole. 

“There are significant reasons why Mylar balloons are banned in Glendale – this is the most significant one,” Mellon said adding that the primary causes of power outages are Mylar balloons followed by animals, mostly squirrels, and tree parts, mostly palm fronds.

An authorization to request the reimbursement of $607,084 from the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) for grant funds previously approved was pulled from the Council’s consent agenda but was eventually approved by a unanimous vote of the council. 

Mike Mohill criticized the request he claimed was “buried on the consent calendar.”

“Let’s have a public discussion about electric vehicles and electric construction equipment. Let another city be the guinea pig. You keep raising our electric and water rates,” he said. 

“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Mohill continued, “and he doesn’t believe in this stuff about electric vehicles and batteries. Gasoline is the way to go.”

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian asked Mohill what “new sheriff” he meant as President Trump purchased a new Tesla on the lawn of the White House this week, “so I don’t know [who] you’re referring to.”

Councilmember Ara Najarian raised concerns about advocacy groups being utilized for outreach as the staff report on this issue indicates that the Glendale Environmental Coalition “provided support for the grant application and agreed to leverage their outreach tools to raise awareness of this pilot project.”

“That’s too cozy,” Najarian said.

At the beginning of the Council meeting, a representative of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District (GLACVCD) updated the council on the agency’s work. For $18.97 annually per single-family residence, the GLACVCD focuses on mosquito-borne diseases. Last year 140 travel-associated and three locally acquired cases of dengue fever were recorded, for instance. The agency offers integrated vector management combining surveillance, control and education and can be contacted for any service needs at https://www.glamosquito.org/.

In news about upcoming events, the city is hosting five community walk audits in various Glendale neighborhoods to discuss existing street conditions and explore future safety improvements as part of the Vision Zero Action Plan. Details can be found at https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/community-development/planning/plans-for-mobility/vision-zero-action-plan.

Resident Jackie Gish told the Council about the Theodore Payne Foundation’s upcoming Native Plants Garden Tour https://nativeplantgardentour.org/ set for the weekend of April 5 and 6, to enjoy the gardens and learn about options for replacing “thirsty lawns.” 

Mayor Elen Asatryan shared information about this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday, March 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Shoseian Teahouse, 1601 W. Mountain St. (for more information visit https://www.glendaleteahouse.org/events/march-2025-cherry-blossom-festival).