By Eliza PARTIKA

The Crescenta Valley Town Council (CVTC) held a special community meeting on July 17 to address several planned developments in La Crescenta including on Foothill Boulevard and the U Matter Luxury Resort rehabilitation facility on Frances Avenue. The CVTC held the meeting to give residents the chance to voice to elected officials their concerns.

Representatives were at the meeting from the offices of Senator Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember Laura Friedmana and the Dept. of Regional Planning. Also in attendance were Anish Sariaya and Sussy Nemer from Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office. Discussed were the housing element, Senate Bills 8, 9 and 10, among other matters.

Officials from LA County Land Use Regulation Division and the Business Licensing and Tax Division of LA County Planning shared with the CV Weekly that U Matter’s violation of county codes hasn’t yet been rectified and that U Matter is missing the business license required to move forward with the project.

“We have inspected this business and determined they need a business license. One of our inspectors is in communication with the business and the business owner has committed to apply for a [business license]. We will follow up and will escalate, if necessary,” Hamlet Panosian, Alex Garcia and Ana Ruiz of the LA County Planning Commission’s Land Use Regulation Division wrote in an email to the CV Weekly.

The business license section of the Los Angeles County Planning Commission “will inspect and re-inspect the business in order to bring it into compliance,” wrote Panosian.

LA County Planning has the authority to enforce any business use if that business’ operations are not in compliance with the Zoning Code (Title 22).

Panosian confirmed the land use regulation and business license section have mechanisms to escalate the matter to the Office of the County Counsel to issue a cease and desist order, if necessary. If the business does not come into compliance after the cease and desist order, county counsel may consider legal action, Panosian and Garcia confirmed.

At the July 17 meeting, lively discussion between county officials and concerned residents left more questions than answers, according to some longtime La Crescenta residents.

“There is still no clarity as to how licensing happens, what are the rules, who and how are these facilities regulated, or staff qualifications,” Ines Chessum, a Crescenta Valley resident, told the CV Weekly.

The Fair Housing Act (1988) does not allow discrimination against people with a disability, which they define as “those individuals with mental or physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities,” according to the government website defining the parameters of the bill. Alcoholism and drug addiction are among the list of disabilities defined by the Fair Housing Act.

According to Chessum, officials present at Thursday night’s meeting acknowledged that there is a concern throughout the state for these types of facilities in community neighborhoods. Residents continued to express concern, she said.

The local housing element and zoning were also discussed.

Every eight years, the state must provide a housing element to assess the need for housing. Each county has to report to the state and obtain certification for housing for different levels of income, namely low income and moderate income, said CVTC president Frida Baghdassarian. According to Baghdassarian, La Crescenta/Montrose needs units of low and moderate income housing to comply with the state’s mandate. To achieve this, the county has the liberty to pick certain parcels to rezone them.

The next outreach town hall, discussing traffic safety near schools, is scheduled for August at the Crescenta Valley Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd. Baghdassarian encouraged the public to send in comments and to attend in person if they wish to know more.

“It takes a village to get these things done,” Baghdassarian said.