By Mary O’KEEFE

There has been an appeal of the decision made by the Glendale Planning Department hearing officer of an owner/developers application to build a five-story, 87-unit apartment complex at the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and New York Avenue, 3411-3427 Foothill Boulevard. 

This development has been a concern for residents for years. As reported in the CVW previously: “In a 2021 planning meeting over 100 community members shared their concerns about the project. They were concerned about outreach efforts by the City and the developer with regard to reaching out to community members about the large project. 

“During that 2021 meeting the proposed project was described as two four-story mixed commercial/residential towers and a third five-story mixed commercial-residential tower. To help preserve the sightline, 14 feet would separate each tower with connections between them on the street level via the sidewalk, on the second floor via a resident-only green space/promenade, and on the fourth floor via a bridge or catwalk. The three towers would be constructed on a 57,900 square foot site with 17,200 square feet of commercial space and 78 housing units, including eight-to-10 affordable units.”

At the time of the meeting Roger Kiesel, senior planner with Glendale Community Development, noted that he had received approximately 150 emails, letters and phone calls about the project prior to the meeting and of those only one was in support of the project while the other 149 were opposed. Board member Caro Minas echoed the sentiment saying, “Response from the public has been overwhelming in this case.”

The project has changed since 2021. The proposal now is an 87-unit single tower with no commercial space or mix-use element. There would be nine units set aside as “affordable to very low income housing.” The breakdown appears to be 18 three-bedroom apartments, 46 two-bedroom units, 23 one-bedroom apartments and no studio units. 

“The 3411 – 3427 Foothill project was approved by the Planning Hearing Officer on March 25, 2026. This decision was appealed on April 9, 2026. The Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to hear this appeal sometime in June; however, no date has been set at this point,” said Kiesel.

The Crescenta Highlands Neighborhood Association and Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council filed the appeal with the Glendale Planning office. 

In approving the application, which included giving the owner-developer three incentives and three waivers of the city’s building code in exchange for nine very low income apartments, the hearing officer ignored the written and oral comments of several community members who opposed the project, according to Mary-Lynne Fisher, president of the Crescenta Highlands Neighborhood Association.

“The community has come together to do the work the city staff and the owner-developer should have done before this project reached the hearing stage. We showed what laws the city has disregarded and that, contrary to the owner-developer’s assertion, soil and water testing on the site must be conducted before a change from a commercial site to a residential one,” Fisher said. “We used software modeling to show the longer evacuation times and contacted the state’s water board, which provided evidence that the owner-developer failed to respond to a request in 2024 for information on the chemicals used at the site of the auto dealership.”

An exact date has yet to be set for the June meeting concerning the appeal. 

“Notices will be sent to property owners and occupants of property within 500 feet of the subject site prior to the Planning Commission hearing, once that date is set. The public can send letters and emails to myself and members of the Planning Commission to express their support or opposition to the project. Any correspondence I receive will be forwarded to the Planning Commission for their review and consideration,” said Kiesel. 

The appeal hearing allows the Planning Commission to review both “old” material, which was already presented to the commission, and new information that can be presented during the appeal hearing. 

To contact Roger Kiesel email RKiesel@glendaleca.gov; to reach the Community Development Dept., call (818)548-2140 and to contact the Planning Commission, email planningcommission@glendaleca.gov.