By Brian CHERNICK

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Glendale City Council narrowly passed a 45-day moratorium on all new residential development projects in the downtown area.

Brought forth by Councilmember Ara Najarian, the purpose of the moratorium is to allow staff the time to study and present possible amendments to the city’s downtown specific plan (DSP) and the incentives provided to developers.

Development in the downtown Glendale area has received pushback over the years from residents concerned about the overdevelopment of luxury apartments, which they state lack aesthetic quality, have a negative impact on traffic and parking and provide limited benefits in the form of investment in public spaces and amenities.

The beginning of Glendale’s decade of rapid growth is marked by the opening of Rick Caruso’s Americana at Brand residential and shopping center in 2008, which ushered in years of numerous high density luxury apartments sprouting up throughout the downtown area.

At the March 13 city council meeting, the director of Community Development Philip Lanzafame stated that a comprehensive study of the possible removal or modification of current incentives would take at least a year to complete.

Najarian, who campaigned on a record of voting against large projects throughout the city, has had a mixed record throughout his tenure voting in favor of a number of projects in 2011 – Verdugo Gardens, Laemmle Lofts, Legendary Towers and Lex on Orange – and voted against similar projects in 2013 and beyond including Altana apartments, Onyx Glendale and Modera Glendale.

Councilmember Zareh Sinanyan stood as the sole member to vote against the moratorium, describing it as too broad and potentially harming well-intended projects.

“Clearly there are concerns by residents, there are concerns by council members, including me,” Sinanyan said. “I’m not sure this is the proper way to deal with [them]. There has to be a way to use a fine tool as opposed to a sledgehammer.”

  Brian CHERNICK