By Brandon HENSLEY

The Crescenta Valley Town Council wants to know how residents feel about possible changes to zoning laws in their neighborhoods. The council is encouraging them to go online and take its survey regarding existing R1 (single family) zoning restrictions.

Thecvcouncil.com reads, “Over the past two and half years the R1 subcommittee of the CV Town Council began several community surveys to establish how the community felt about certain aspects with regard to R1 (single family) building codes. In November 2010, the second community survey was completed by over 500 community members.”

“In 2010, a lot of residents came to council and were very vocal about their opposition to some of the new [housing] construction,” said CV Town Councilmember Robert Thomas, who sits on the R1 subcommittee. “But there hasn’t been much interest since. [The R1 subcommittee] wants to make sure that we have the most current information on what our residents want [regarding housing development.]”

In early 2012, L.A. County Planning presented suggestions and opinions to the CV Town Council based on the 2010 survey results. Thomas is encouraging the public to take the newest survey that is on the council’s website to see if  residents’ concerns back in 2010 are still the same.

The R1 subcommittee will be making a recommendation to council in March about the need for L.A. County Planning to return to council. Thomas said he wants to make sure the recommendation is based on current, not outdated, data. According to results from the 2010 survey, which can be found at thecvcouncil.com, 61% of 459 voters said they would like more restrictions for residential properties, and 71% of those voters said La Crescenta needs better code enforcement.

“I feel that we should pursue whether or not the community is interested in changing the R1 zoning, to see if indeed the community wants it more restrictive,” he said.

If the council determines that there is sufficient community interest, it will ask L.A. County Planning to present proposals to increase R1 zoning restrictions. But to date, only about 100 respondents have taken the survey. The council said if it determines that there is not enough interest to move forward, it will act accordingly.

“We’re going to make a decision in March,” said Thomas, “and we’re giving the community one last response to see how interested it is in this.”

  Brandon Hensley