Signs send them to Pasadena

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — After more than three years of fighting the city and a homeowners’ association, the Demirjians finally got their wish. The city gave them an occupancy permit last month, allowing them to move into their dream home on Linda Vista Road.

But now things are turning the wrong way for the family.

A proposed median in front of the Demirjians’ home would force them to drive into Pasadena before turning back into Glendale.

“They barricaded us so we can’t go to Glendale,” Hasmik Demirjian said.

The city of Glendale’s Traffic and Transportation Division installed one-way and no-left-turn street signs, flexible, orange traffic poles and cement bumps on Dec. 5 near Linda Vista Road and Figueroa Street. The intention was to direct traffic so as to avoid car accidents, Senior Asst. City Atty. Christy Sansone said.

However, the blockade and signs face the driveway to the Demirjians’ property — the only home on Linda Vista Road, between Figueroa Street and the border with Pasadena — preventing them from making a left turn into Glendale.

“You might as well put a wall here and say, ‘Mr. Demirjian, you cannot go to Glendale,” said Harout Demirjian, the architect and contractor for his 4,219-square-foot house.

The only way they can get into Glendale legally or safely is to make a right turn, drive into Pasadena, turn into the Art Center College of Design, 2,000 feet down Linda Vista Road, then finally make a left back onto the road into Glendale.

“There is a slope,” Sansone said. “The [signs and bumps] were installed since our traffic engineers have determined that it’s unsafe to turn left on that slope because there is a turn where cars can’t be seen.”

A crest near the Demirjian property limits the visibility of oncoming traffic.

“Turning left out of that area with the limited visibility is a traffic hazard,” Sansone said.

The city failed to notify him of the problem at the design plan check stage, which is the standard procedure, Harout Demirjian said.

“That’s the time the city should have brought this to me,” he said. “If there was, I wouldn’t have built this house.”

But the Demirjians were aware of the proposed median throughout the building process, Sansone said.

“They were notified in writing and verbally….” she said. “All throughout the construction of the project, they were allowed to build the house with the understanding that they would take care of making sure the road was safe.”

The Demirjians’ property has been the center of dispute in past years. In September 2002, when the house was in the beginning of its planning stage, members of the Fair Oaks Homeowners Community Assn. made public statements in opposition to the project. Members of the Glendale City Council opposed the project, as well.

Considering the history of opposition to their home, the proposed median in front of the house is a vindictive move, Hasmik Demirjian said.

“They’re thinking to put in a median here,” Hasmik Demirjian said. “How expensive is that just to punish us and please the homeowners’ association?”

Sansone said the median reflects only considerations of safety and that the proposed median would be relatively inexpensive.

“It’s a not a political issue. It’s not a personal issue. It’s a safety issue,” Sansone said. “We’re talking about a greater issue which is that nobody has a serious incident here.”

The city is recommending that the Demirjians pay for and install a closed-circuit television system that allows them to view cars coming west on Linda Vista Road from Pasadena, Sansone said.

“That is nonsense,” Hasmik Demirjian said. “It would cost so much to us. We don’t want to do it because it’s not right.”

The family is consulting with lawyers as to the next course of action, she said.