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The Top 10 Stories Of The Year

December 30, 2008
(Page 9 of 9)

The lengthy back-and-forth pitted residents on Glenada Avenue and beyond, who argued that the townhomes would increase traffic and drive down property values, against developers Razmik Tahmasian and Gevorg Voskanian, who own the property.

On Oct. 27, the relic was demolished after a string of civic groups, such as the Crescenta Valley Town Council, asked officials to step in and stop the destruction.

Residents were elated Oct. 16, when Supervisor Michael Antonovich called for a review of a previous decision by the County’s Regional Planning Commission decision, who had permitted the construction.

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However, the move only temporarily delayed demolition of the 2128 Glenada Ave. home, offering a brief respite for distressed residents on the quiet street lined with Craftsman-style homes.

Tahmasian and Voskanian, based in La Crescenta, said they were forced to tear down the home after the aging structure presented an insurance risk and safety hazard. Both developers hoped to avoid controversy and offered the intact home to anyone willing to shuttle the residence away.

A few jumped at the chance to own a historic home, but the costs of transportation and lack of available land to accommodate the structure proved too formidable for all interested parties.

In the end, residents feared the worst of their suspicions would come true while developers sought to downplay concerns by increasing the number of parking spaces in the planned complex and saying the architectural renderings are consistent with the design of nearby homes.

That did little to assuage Camille Waferling, owner of one of the remaining Craftsman-style homes on Glenada Avenue.

“I wish I could just pick up and move to another neighborhood now,” she said. “God knows who he’s going to rent to now just to [anger] us.”


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