It was a year of startling change and of challenges to the old way
of doing things. In 2002, Glendale residents at last witnessed the
end of the Oakmont View V battle and raised an issue with the
potential for even more controversy -- rent control. In La Canada
Flintridge, residents voted themselves sewer systems galore.
High-ranking city officials left Glendale in droves, most notably
Police Chief Russell Siverling. We saw the death of a beloved public
servant. And the festering controversy over the Glendale Humane
Society ended with its replacement by a shelter from another city.
Here are the News-Press picks for the top 10 stories of 2002:
1CITY PURCHASES OAKMONT SITE
Christmas came two weeks early for environmentalists and others
opposed to developing 238 acres in the Verdugo Mountains when the
City Council voted unanimously to purchase the hillside property from
Oakmont View V developers John and Lee Gregg for $25.25 million.
The deal ended a decade-long battle between residents and the
Greggs, and put a stop to years of legal wrangling between the city
and the developers. The Greggs had sued the city over delays in
processing environmental documents and for rejecting the proposed
hillside project.
The city will pay $13.25 million of the total price tag. The
Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a state agency that
helps protect open space, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
will pay the remaining $12 million. They will use $8 million secured
by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) and Assemblyman Dario Frommer
(D-Glendale).
The council's Dec. 10 vote was greeted with a standing ovation
from many who packed council chambers. The hillside, once slated for
572 homes, will instead be preserved as open space. The sale should
be completed by April 30.
Gregg attorney Robert McMurry said after the vote that while the
amount wasn't as much "as we think the property is worth," it seemed
like a good compromise, "given the uncertainties of litigation."
2RENT CONTROL
Escalating tensions between tenants and landlords over
skyrocketing rents in Glendale exploded in October when a local
organization began lobbying to put the question of rent control on
the ballot.
The Glendale Tenants Assn. filed notice Oct. 1 it would circulate
a petition to put rent control on the ballot. The move was followed
closely by a counter measure filed by the Property Owners for
Property Rights Protection on Oct. 15.
According to the tenants' proposed charter amendment, rent
