By Brian CHERNICK

The Sept. 12 meeting of the Glendale City Council marked a small victory for the historical preservation of Glendale. The council, reduced to four members for three consecutive weeks because of the planned absence by councilmember Zareh Sinanyan, voted unanimously to place three out of five properties on the Glendale Register of Historic Resources.

The registration authorizes a contract between the city and property owners to work to maintain historical significance in the city.

The properties that were under consideration included a 1915 Craftsman-style home, a 1907 Mission Revival-style home, a 1937 Monterey Revival-style home, and two Spanish Colonial Revival houses from 1925 and 1933.

In order to qualify for the Mill Act Contract, some of the properties are recommended or required to make changes to the structure. These changes ranged from the removal of modern carports, windows and garage doors, as well as the changing out of parts and materials, in order to conform to the original design, and to remove any modernization.

The two Spanish Colonial houses were either denied registration or moved to a later vote due to not meeting the council’s high threshold for historical preservation and the Mills Act. The property in the 1000 block of Mountain Street, which had modifications to 27 of its windows, did not satisfy the council’s guidelines for architectural significance to bestow upon it the high prestige of having historical value.

A 1925 Spanish Colonial house in the 3100 block of Vista Del Mar Drive received the greatest amount of scrutiny from Councilmembers Ara Najarian, Vrej Agajanian and Mayor Vartan Gharpetian due to a wall at the front of the property.

Currently, Glendale enforces a front fence law that forbids any fence or wall on the front yard, and the wall at Vista Del Mar Drive might be in violation of that law, though the property predates the law.

“To confirm the Mills Act on this home without any further research is setting a very bad example and it’s giving amnesty perhaps to other homes,” Najarian argued. “Let’s kick this vote down, get a little more research and let’s not vote on it at this time.”

The inclusion of the wall during the original design of the property was not certain and, according to Gharpetian, “blocks the view of the house.”

“We have, from 1920 to 1930, 7,411 houses built in Glendale,” Gharpetian said. “So I think we need to be, for all of us, a little careful as to which are being registered and which ones aren’t … we want to pick and choose which are the best ones.”

Senior Urban Designer Jay Platt attempted to assure the council that the commission vets each property carefully to ensure they are not “rubber stamping because it’s pretty.”

The owner of the house, Sonia Montejano, argued that the commission – which had voted unanimously to consider it for registration – had the chance to tour the home and the owner is also in possession of the blueprints for the home that she stated shows there have been no alterations.

“I’m doing everything in my power to preserve the architect’s intention,” Montejano said. “And I believe it meets the criteria [for historical preservation].”

The follow-up hearing and vote is scheduled for November after more information regarding the property can be produced to the council.

The Mills Act Contract provides economic incentives through property tax relief by the City of Glendale for property owners who provide these restorations and further maintenance.

According to the California’s Office of Historic Preservation, property owners and participants can sometimes experience savings of between 40% and 60% each year by retrofitting and keeping with the original design of the structure. The Mills Act Program, enacted in 1972, grants authorization for cities and counties to enter into contracts with the owners of qualifying historic properties for the purposes of maintaining the properties’ character. Typically these contracts last 10 years and are automatically extended annually, as long as the property owners hold up their end of the agreement and rehabilitate and continue to maintain the historical and architectural character of the property.

  Brian CHERNICK