Council says no to Glenoaks zone change

CITY HALL ? The City Council denied a homeowner request Tuesday night to rezone the homeowner’s Glenoaks Boulevard property from residential to commercial after one councilman recused himself, making the five votes needed for passage impossible.

Homeowners Minas and Dalida Keuroghlian applied in February for their property at 702 E. Glenoaks Blvd. be changed from residential to neighborhood commercial so they could use the home as an office.

The request ? which the Planning Commission recommended the council deny ? was continued twice, first because neighbors said they did not get enough notice about the hearing, and then at the request of the property owners after neighbors filed a protest.

Neighboring homeowners and small-business owners representing 78% of frontage adjacent to the property filed two protests ? one in May and another this month ? against the zoning change, according to a report submitted to the council.

“They’re running a construction business,” Geneva Street resident Laurie Collins said. “They have trucks coming to the house at 7 a.m. to pick up lumber, pick up insulation. They are not just running an office. It’s not an appropriate place. They should be on San Fernando Road.”

Nobody in the neighborhood wanted the zoning change, Collins said, and the 78% protest far exceed the 20% needed to require a unanimous council vote on the zoning change.

But a unanimous vote could not have been rendered on Tuesday, as Councilman Ara Najarian recused himself from participating in the discussion and deliberations based on what he called a conflict of interest.

“[The applicants] were prior tenants of mine in a commercial office building which I own and [have] interest in,” Najarian said. “They paid rent up to December 2005, at which point they moved out. I do have a conflict of interest because I received income from them?. I will not be voting, I will not be participating further in this matter.”

Councilman Rafi Manoukian also had business dealings with the applicants, but since he served as their accountant more than two years ago, he had no conflict of interest, he said.

The Keuroghlians wanted to continue the hearing again on Tuesday so they could have more time to look into the protest and whether it needed a unanimous vote from the entire council or a unanimous vote of council members who could vote.

“It appears that what started out to be a very simple zoning application turned into more of a complex, volatile mess requiring more time for everyone to investigate and properly respond,” said Karine Basmajian, an attorney representing the Keuroghlians. The original intent for the home was as a residence for the Keuroghlian’s son, but since he did not like the property, they decided to turn it into an office space, Basmajian said.

“The only reason we are here is because the applicant, being a law-abiding citizen of Glendale, when she decided to use the property as an office space she asked the city, ‘Is there anything I need to do, any procedure I need to follow, in order to make this property into my own office use,’” Basmajian said. “She was guided by the city Planning Department to follow procedures.”

But with Najarian deciding to opt out, a hearing would have been pointless, City Atty. Scott Howard said.

“Five members need to vote on this based on the 20% protest filed?. Without having the five council members participate, it essentially results in idle acts,” he said.

Manoukian, however, said the matter should be continued because the applicants deserved a fair hearing.

The other council members did not agree.

“It’s clear in my mind we need five votes to change this particular parcel,” Councilman Frank Quintero said. “Regardless of what we do tonight, we need five votes.”

Yousefian moved to deny the zoning change without a hearing, based on Najarian’s decision to recuse himself. The council voted 3 to 1 to approve the motion, with Manoukian dissenting.

The Keuroghlians must now either stop running the business out of their home or apply for a home-use permit, Mayor Dave Weaver said.

They have not said what they will do, he said, “But right now, they are not in compliance with the code, so they cannot continue a business there.”

While Collin and other neighbors saw the denial as a victory for the quality of life in that Glenoaks neighborhood, it was also unfortunate because the zoning change was denied without setting any sort of precedent, she said.

“Our neighborhood won by default?. But Mr. Najarian should have stepped up to the plate,” she said. “The city attorney made it clear that he could have voted, and I wish he had, so that we would have had a clear council direction on this.”