By Julie BUTCHER

At the beginning of Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glendale City Council, various city officials briefed the council and public about precautions for the current heat wave.

Fire Chief Jeff Brooks cautioned that during triple digits days, like those expected through Sunday, folks should be careful to put out cigarette butts properly; to watch for sparks from power equipment; and to be on the alert for anything that could ignite dry vegetation. He urged residents to limit outdoor activities to the cooler parts of the day and to stay hydrated.

“Drink more than you think you need,” Chief Brooks advised.

Glendale Water and Power (GWP) Chief Scott Mellon noted that the heat threatens the city’s power system. Mellon urged the conservation of energy as much as possible including delaying the use of major appliances – electric ovens, dishwashers, clothes washers – until after 9 p.m. and for homes to set the thermostat to 78 degrees “when you’re home and to 80 degrees when you’re away.”

“Close your curtains and blinds to block out direct sunlight,” he advised.

GWP also has a program that provides free fans to low-income seniors. To access call (818) 548-3775 or email CSPCares@GlendaleCA.gov.

Mellon added that the GWP hotline for power outages is (818) 550-4400.

Councilmember Dan Brotman also urged those with electric vehicles to charge them after 9 p.m. or in the morning.

Onnig Bulanikian, director of Community Services & Parks, announced that the city will be opening four cooling centers Thursday through Sunday;
(for more information about the cooling centers visit https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/community-services-parks/beat-the-heat). Many city parks will stay open until 10 p.m.; and the city’s splash pads, wading pool and pool will all be open.

Community Development director Bradley Calvert took the podium to respond to concerns about the changes contemplated in the city’s updated land use element of the city’s general plan.

Mayor Ara Najarian spoke in response to “bad information out there in the public.”

“In our minds when we’re considering the proposing and adoption of overlay zones for certain parcels throughout the city, some of which are in Montrose, what the public doesn’t understand is that such actions are defensive; they are done to protect the City of Glendale and our residents,” he said.

“Now why do you say that?” Mayor Najarian asked rhetorically. “First off, California courts have held that when housing is declared a matter of statewide concern – which they have – state laws may validly override charter city authority – Glendale is a charter city – regarding the disposition of city-owned property. That means the State of California, if they so choose, can pass an ordinance regarding land use – and we have seen it dozens of times in the past few years – which would take the right of the city away and take away our authority in handling the ownership of that land.”

Mayor Najarian went on to detail the threat to local control “unless there’s a residential component to the zoning,” he added, explaining this is what makes the city’s proposed amendment to its land use plans a defensive act.

“While everyone’s out there getting mad at the Council, saying we’re going to tear down Montrose, the fact is what we’re doing is defensive. I don’t believe that part of the argument was made clear enough.”

Calvert responded to the mayor’s comments, noting that the summary was perfect, reporting on small group meetings held with the Royal Oaks Homeowner’s Association and another meeting with the board of the Montrose Shopping Park Association (MSPA).

“Part of these discussions are to try to get that narrative right sized. There has been some frustration, some anger, some misinformation going around and, to be fair, we may have stated things in a manner that’s not as easy to understand. Our job is to be more contextually sensitive to the neighborhoods that we speak to,” Calvert said, reporting that there would be four meetings held with the MSPA in the next month and that the city and the association would be issuing a joint flyer with the most up-to-date information.

Montrose Lot 3 is currently zoned R3050, Calvert offered as an example, and the city could currently build 30 units on it. The proposed overlay zone would allow for 86 or 87 units, not the seven-story building with 500 units being depicted in information circulating in the community.

“We’re trying to do something that is contextually sensitive, not putting up five, six or seven-story buildings next to these communities but also being responsive and proactive enough with regard to the State.”

Calvert also reported that the extension of the comment period would delay the issuance of an EIR, a required environmental impact review. An EIR would analyze questions of capacity that have been raised regarding the city’s infrastructure.

Finally, Calvert shared maps showing changes proposed to zoning along Glenoaks Boulevard pointing out that “not a single property within those boundaries is single-family.”

“To be very, very clear,” Calvert emphasized, “every property is either commercial, mixed use, or moderate-to-higher-use residential. There are no changes along Glenoaks to any single-family properties whatsoever.”

“Again, we’re not upzoning here – that’s not the consideration – what we’re talking about is a classification of properties which then would be a further discussion after the land use element in terms of standards, zoning, things of that nature, which then would be another round of public engagement, another round of comments.”

The city’s general plan document can be found at https://www.glendaleplan.com/. Drafts of the updated land use element and the new environmental justice element are available for public review and comment at https://tinyurl.com/2u66zx33.

Councilmember Elen Asatryan commented that she hopes the plans can include asking people what additional amenities they would like to see in their neighborhoods. A caller wondered what makes Kenneth Village and Montrose unique and inviting.

“Ms. Wilson” addressed the council: “I’m here to vigorously oppose the continued destruction of California and Glendale’s environment by rampant overdevelopment hypocritically presented as sympathy for working class people. Today, the Los Angeles City Council voted to formally oppose and resist SB 79, which mandates new state zoning standards and disregards the rights of locally elected officials … it runs roughshod over every local restriction including historic districts and is opposed by countless homeowners and renters who reside in gracious and well-maintained older buildings, which incidentally are better for the environment than tearing down and building new.”

Mayor Najarian reported that the Glendale council voted to oppose SB 79 “months ahead of Los Angeles.”

The council acted to move forward on a “reach code” that would require residents to install a heat pump when replacing an air-conditioning unit.

Last week Patrick Murphy suggested it should better be called an “overreach code.” At this week’s meeting he said there had been no public outreach on this, that the state is not requiring this and it is being rushed through to beat the Oct. 1 moratorium on residential building code changes imposed through 2031.

“First of all, nobody is being required to replace their air conditioning system,” Councilmember Brotman explained. “This is only if your air conditioning system is being replaced; otherwise, you would replace it with a heat pump as opposed to a traditional system.”

Councilmember Brotman noted that the budget for rebates to help residents bridge those costs would come from GWP’s public benefit funds and not the city’s budget and that the benefit to the city would be in reduced peak energy demands, which helps stabilize the grid.

“These are highly energy efficient devices. They’re going to pull less power on a hot day and save residents money because they will reduce your energy bill and improve your health as you won’t be combusting gas, which generates nitrous oxide emissions,” he added.

Mayor Najarian made several announcements: first welcoming Glendale students back to school, sharing a reminder about this week’s concert in Brand Park, announcing the community swearing in of State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez at Pasadena City College on Saturday (festivities starting at 10 a.m.) (more info can be found at https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/rsvp_main.php?district=SD25&rsvp=1351) and the opening reception of the exhibit Of Wave and Stone by artist Yeu Q. Nguyen https://www.glendaleca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/9311/16 in the Adams Square Mini Park Gas Station on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon.

The City of Glendale is in the process of creating a dedicated webpage https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/office-of-the-city-manager/communications-community-relations/veterans-day to honor Glendale’s veterans and is calling for veterans to submit their full name, military branch, years of service and optionally a photo and message of reflection. Email MyGlendale@GlendaleCA.gov or call Annette Ghazarian at (818) 548-3342. The city is in the process of planning this year’s Veterans Day event for Nov. 11.

In additional business on Tuesday night, the council voted to extend the contracts of both the city attorney and city manager.

The contract of city manager Roubik Golanian was extended from March 8, 2027 to Dec. 31, 2028 with a wage increase of 4% retroactive to July 1, 2025 and a minor change to the severance provision of the employment agreement. Golanian receives $390,936 per year.

According to the staff report regarding changes to the employment contract with city attorney Michael Garcia, the extension covers the period through Oct. 16, 2027 and increases the city attorney’s salary to $332,000 per year.

Councilmember Elen Asatryan abstained from voting on the city manager’s contract and voted “no” on the city attorney’s agreement.

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian observed that even with these raises both the city manager and city attorney “are still making less than their counterparts in neighboring cities – and those cities have much smaller populations.”

“I think we all know how market forces work and that you get what you pay for and we’re trying to provide the best that we can for the residents of Glendale,” said Councilmember Kassakhian.

Finally, the council discussed a request from Mayor Najarian to review the process of designating an historic district.

Newly-elected board member Simon Wright of The Glendale Historical Society addressed the council stating that the “current process is both robust and fair to residents who support or oppose the creation of an historic district.”

“While there is always room for improvement, we would be concerned about process changes that make it more difficult for residents who wish to come together to preserve the historic character of their neighborhood,” he said. “Glendale has nine historic districts created over the past 17 years, which have successfully managed change rather than preventing it.”

  Julie BUTCHER