Design board member draws public ire

CITY HALL — At least two City Council members confronted Design Review Board No. 1 Chairman Vartan Gharpetian on Tuesday night after he called critics of his involvement in a private property rights association liars and discriminatory.

Gharpetian has been the target of critics at numerous recent City Council meetings who have said that, as a reviewer of commercial and single-family home design, his involvement in the Glendale Property Owners Assn. LLC — which asserts on its website that view and privacy protection ordinances may “further restrict and negatively affect” property rights — represents a conflict of interest.

Gharpetian’s comments on Tuesday were his first given in public on the matter since news of the group became widely known, and he has so far refused to speak to the media.

“I joined the commission system to serve the city, and that’s what I did,” Gharpetian told the council. “I don’t have a conflict. Don’t assume things. Get your facts in order and then make judgments.”

But a review of state and local records shows that Gharpetian voted to approve a 6,100-square-foot, single-story commercial building on South Central Avenue owned and presented by Artak Dovlatyan — who in state records is listed with Gharpetian as a co-manager of the association — just 10 days before filing papers to form the association.

Design Review Board No. 1 unanimously approved the project — which would require the demolition of an existing building at 919 S. Central Ave. — at its April 19 meeting, where Dovlatyan presented the project for review, according to city staff reports.

Ten days later, Gharpetian filed papers to form the Glendale Property Owners Assn. LLC, and in July amended the company’s structure to include Dovlatyan as its co-manager, state records show.

Calls made to Dovlatyan were not returned Wednesday.

City Atty. Scott Howard said he did not know enough details about the men’s relationship or circumstances of the timelines to determine whether a conflict of interest existed, but that on its face it had “piqued” his interest.

“That might be something we need to look into,” he said.

Dovlatyan is listed as the vice president of Glendale-based Specialized Realty, and in city documents as owner Abstract Holdings, Inc.