By Ted AYALA

The Glendale City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of implementing changes to Glendale’s municipal code relating to public open spaces.

The amendments to Title XII of the code would set in motion plans to improve the city’s network of public spaces by way of non-traditional means. This would expand use of public land into options that go beyond converting them into parks.

The spaces, designated as “paseos” by the city, would allow small public spaces to be used as urban plazas.

According to the report submitted by director of Public Works Steve Zurn, the primary focus of the amendments is “strengthening the physical functional usage between the neighborhoods within the [Downtown Specific Plan] area and the open space network.” The report also cited improvements to safety that paseos can offer by open visible areas that would otherwise be obscured from the main streets.    In the report, paseos are defined as being a “mid-block pedestrian right-of-way which may contain doors or openings from adjacent buildings. In addition, if it does not obstruct the flow, portions of a paseo may also be used for outdoor dining, retail space, art gardens and related uses.”

A handful of paseos are currently in place in the downtown district along Brand Boulevard, including at the proposed site of the Museum of Neon Art (MONA).

The amendments will allow paseos to be designated as public rights-of-way in the municipal code.

Fiscal impact to the city would be zero according to the report.