By Mary O’KEEFE

The Verdugo Wash Visioning project was the topic of a neighborhood meeting held on Saturday morning in the Sycamore Woods area of Glendale. Residents had many concerns – several that had been voiced at an earlier meeting in Whiting Woods. Each seemed to carry equal weight.

The stated goal of the Verdugo Wash Visioning project is to create a unique and memorable experience that enhances connectivity, creates open space and improves environmental sustainability and performance, according to the Glendale City presentation at the meeting.

Bradley Calvert, assistant director of Community Development, City of Glendale, spoke about the project at the outreach meeting on Saturday. At first the atmosphere was tense as neighbors voiced their concerns that they were being left out of the decision-making process, stating the only reason they were having the outreach meetings was because they “just happened” to find out on social media about the Verdugo Wash Visioning project. Realizing the project brought up tense emotions, the neighbors and Calvert calmed as they respectfully disagreed on many aspects of the project.

This is not the first time the project was brought to neighbors. Many at the meeting remembered the project but thought it was canceled in 2014.

“The project never officially started in 2014, but was something that was a point of discussion. There are many members of our community who see this as an excellent opportunity to establish better neighborhood connections and to green the city,” Calvert said. “They have remained enthusiastic about the project and have approached [Glendale City] Council. As part of this fiscal year’s budget, the council voted to allocate funding for the visioning study, expressing support and a desire to investigate and understand what is possible. But that is all that has been considered, just this initial visioning stage.”

Calvert stressed several times that the outreach meetings were a way to hear opinions and concerns from the community about the project and that it has not been decided to move forward. In fact, he added that the process, including an environmental impact study if and when the project moved forward, would take over a year.

Out of the 50-plus residents who were at the meeting only two responded they had taken the online survey or had prior knowledge about the project. A resident suggested the City of Glendale reach out to those whose homes are directly adjacent or close to the wash via mail or flyers at the homes.

“This is something that we will strategize about in the coming days. While I understand the perspective that was being discussed, a flyer would present very limited information,” said Calvert. He recounted a conversation with residents that may, indeed, lead to the creation of a flyer.

Calvert added there has been misinformation shared concerning the project.

“There have been a lot of buzz words or terms like ‘urban access’ and that [the project] would go through people’s yards and build on people’s properties. None of those things would be the case, I assure you,” he said. “ I have received calls that we are going to take people’s property, or that we are going to create an access point through their backyards or that we will make those neighborhoods into downtown.

“We have opportunity sites, those already owned by the city but, as stated, this project is about improvements within the wash. We would also not create trailheads through anyone’s property. We have existing access points to work with. We have existing parks to work with. We aren’t going to make someone’s front or backyard an access point. We aren’t going to creep downtown into those neighborhoods. That is why we want to meet with each neighborhood so that we design accordingly.”

He added the most widespread rumor is the idea that this will draw crime or homelessness to the area.

“Proper and good design can address those issues,” he said.

This is perhaps the most unifying concern of those who were at the meeting. Safety concerns included crimes of opportunity, like burglary, especially when the wash project would go directly behind homes and have easy access points, and homeless encampments and the fire risks those can bring, but fire risks in general.

One resident voiced her concern that they already live in an extreme fire condition and bringing others into an area would, she felt, heighten the threat of a human-caused wildfire.

There were other concerns voiced including who would be responsible for the maintenance of the path, what law enforcement and fire agencies would cover the area, would there be restrooms along the path and what would happen to property values.

The Verdugo Wash is a tributary of the Los Angeles River and is located within the City of Glendale with origins in the Crescenta Valley and follows the base of the Verdugo Mountains then turns southwest through the City. The purpose of the Verdugo Wash Visioning survey is to: advance a vision of the Verdugo Wash as a pedestrian- and cyclist-oriented linear park/nature trail, develop a unifying design strategy that reaches beyond the defined Verdugo Wash to connect people, places and culture in other corners of the city along its path, envision a new, bold and innovative landmark statement for a significant piece of infrastructure within the City and aspire to achieve the kind of place-making and identity seen in landmark features such as the Atlanta BeltLine, the Chicago River Walk, the San Antonio River Walk, (Cherry Creek) Denver, the Underline (Miami), Railroad Park (Birmingham, Alabama) and the Indianapolis Culture Trail, according to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the City of Glendale on Aug. 10, 2020.

CVW will continue looking into these issues as well as talking with those who are in favor of the project.

The Verdugo Wash is a tributary of the Los Angeles River and is located within the City of Glendale with origins in the Crescenta Valley and follows the base of the Verdugo Mountains then turns southwest through the City. The purpose of the Verdugo Wash Vision survey is to: advance a vision of the Verdugo Wash as a pedestrian- and cyclist-oriented linear park/nature trail, develop a unifying design strategy that reaches beyond the defined Verdugo Wash to connect people, places and culture in other corners of the city along its path, envision a new, bold and innovative landmark statement for a significant piece of infrastructure within the City and aspire to achieve the kind of place-making and identity seen in landmark features such as the Atlanta BeltLine, the Chicago River Walk, the San Antonio River Walk, (Cherry Creek) Denver, the Underline (Miami), Railroad Park (Birmingham, Alabama) and the Indianapolis Culture Trail, according to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the City of Glendale on Aug. 10, 2020.