Two other neighborhoods are further along in the process. A group of 14 homeowners on the block-long Cottage Grove Avenue at the foot of Adams Hill are in the early stages of the survey process, and a 30-home stretch along Royal Boulevard is undergoing a $15,000, in-depth study evaluating the historical significance of the proposed zone.
If the Royal Boulevard area continues to move successfully through the process, and if the City Council votes in a supermajority — 4 to 1 — to approve the application, the neighborhood will be the city’s first historic district.
Six other neighborhoods, including Rossmoyne, Casa Verdugo and El Miradero, are also considering applying, according to the Glendale Historical Society.
In sponsoring Thursday’s panel, the society members hoped to dispel what they say are rampant misconceptions of how a historic overlay zone affects a home’s resale value, property use and quality of life.
It also coincides with a swell of change that continues to sweep through the city’s guidelines for residential development. The City Council is poised to make final revisions to the standards for massing, design and review that have now extended to city planners and civil boards and commissions for all single-family homes in all areas of the city.
And while Glendale’s historic districting process — which incorporates several steps of neighborhood petitions, surveys and review — is still relatively new, preservation advocates say it is a vital piece of the pie.
“It really integrates into the development strategy for the entire city,” said Arlene Vidor, president of the Glendale Historical Society.
