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Do I have the Right to Sunshine and Sunsets? |
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More Land Use Anxiety
By Kathleen Schwartz
After reading the article, One Citizen’s Journey through the City Bureaucracy Maze, I thought you might find this situation interesting.
Here is the link to the Scoping Meeting for the EIR for The Plaza @ The Glen (Coldwater Canyon and Victory area in the Valley).
I have two specific concerns about this project and the effect on my neighborhood.
I do not want a 5-story Hotel (please note that Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, is almost five miles from this location), a 6-story Retail and Office Building, or 3-story Residential Buildings overlooking my cul-de-sac. Changing the zoning to allow these heights will affect my privacy and security as well as my quality of life. I will no longer have sun in my front yard or be able to see the sunset over neighbor’s homes.
I believe traffic will become even worse than it is now. With the addition of the development west of the plaza, and this one, we can only expect that traffic will be much worse. Even now we have a traffic officer at Victory and Coldwater every afternoon, Monday-Friday. That’s because the mayor’s office has determined that it is a high impact intersection without the new developments.
Mr. Alan has indicated that this is like The Grove near Farmer's Market but that development, like the Calabasas Commons, The Americana on Brand (Glendale) and The Shops at Santa Anita do not back up into single-family dwellings like The Plaza @ The Glen will.
He has indicated that to pencil it out for him, Mr. Alan needs higher density, going from about 700 parking spaces to 3,500 a 500% increase and from 800,000 sq. ft to 1.3 million sq. ft., a 63% increase. His architect has indicated that the project intends to in-fill the property up to our street level so the tall buildings become even higher. If you drove into our neighborhood, you would notice how Bally's and Vallarta at two stories and below our cul-de-sac street level is a little higher than the single-family homes like those on my street.
Environmental Issues potentially affected by these are: Land Use, Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Noise, Public Services, Utilities and Transportation.
When you look at the map on page 6, notice where the alley is. All along Victory, the buildings are high only up to the alley. Because this property was a drive-in, it extends way into the single-family neighborhoods behind it.
Obviously, Mr. Alan has the authority to build up to what zoning allows. I object to the five and six story buildings and zoning and density exemptions he is asking for. If he could build all his tall buildings along Victory, that would be fine for me, but block the view of the apartments and condo on the south-side of Victory. But, because the frontage on Victory is so short, he has decided to destroy my cul-de-sac (Ethel) and the backyards of homes on Morse and Kittridge (page 7).
So the question remains: Who is there looking out for the people? ◘
CityWatch
Vol 6 Issue 64
Pub: Aug 8, 2008
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