Fences

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — For an inning it was close. For the next five, it was a seemingly neverending run parade filled with free passes and extra-base hits — at least for visiting Crescenta Valley High, anyway. But for the host Hoover baseball team, it was the opposite, in which the calamity was only truly halted by the mercy rule, as the Falcons flew away with a 16-1 Pacific League win over the Tornadoes in six innings. "It's a hitter's dream, I'd say," said Falcons starting pitcher Elliot Surrey of playing in the diminutive confines of Hoover's field, which bequeathed eight extra-base knocks to the Falcons, including three home runs.

Alex Coolman NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Dixie, Zookie and Lonnie, the horses who live in the stables behind Carol Anderson's Stanton Avenue home, look docile enough. But horses have a tendency to wander, and once they get started, it can be pretty difficult to stop them. That's why Anderson is happy she has a fence in her frontyard. The white picket fence has been sitting in the yard for at least 35 years, she said, and is covered these days with colorful sweet peas and hollyhocks.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- A decision on whether to allow fences in the frontyards of homes in Glendale's horse district could be made July 18. The City Council has set that date to adopt an ordinance that would exclude about 300 homes in the Riverside Rancho neighborhood from having to follow the 78-year-old ban on frontyard fences. Council members are supportive of the exception. A hearing would have been held Tuesday but was delayed because of the discussion over whether to reopen Glenwood Road.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- Glendale's policy on fences may get more flexible at the same time it becomes a whole lot tougher. The changes could come in the wake of Tuesday's City Council decision to consider both allowing fences in areas zoned for horses and cracking down on the almost 1,600 alleged violations of its fence code in other areas of the city. The city's fence and wall ordinance prohibits fences in the setback of a property, but the ordinance has been inconsistently implemented.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- Residents might finally have an answer next week to an issue city councils have been prancing around for years -- whether to allow front and sideyard fences around homes in an equestrian area. City law prohibits such fences throughout Glendale, but some residents around the Griffith Park area have argued they need the structures to keep their horses from wandering. After a hearing at Tuesday's meeting, council members ordered that the ordinance to allow fences or walls in the Horse Overlay Zone be brought for a vote at next week's meeting.

Amber Willard GLENDALE - In a last flurry of activity, residents on both sides of the debate on whether to allow fences in a particular area of the city have been busy contacting city councilmen set to vote on the issue Tuesday. "It's been a long road for me, about 4 1/2 years," said Joanne Hedge, president of the Glendale Rancho Homeowners Assn. Hedge sent a three-page e-mail to the councilmen and other city officials Thursday night, reiterating her stance that the area has unique needs -- namely, that horses might wander if not penned in -- making fences necessary.

Fred Ortega Residents who were forced to take down their front-yard chain-link fences under a contentious city ordinance are now finding out that Glendale law does not specifically prohibit such materials. The City Council voted last week to suspend enforcement of a controversial law that bans front-yard walls or fences, but it required the removal of about 72 front-yard fences made of what they say are prohibited materials, including chain-link, fiberglass and plastic.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- Council members will have to get off the fence Tuesday and make a decision. After two years of study, the council will decide for the second time in seven years whether any changes need to be made to Glendale's 77-year-old ordinance banning walls and fences in front- and sideyards next to streets. No changes were made in 1993 following a lengthy study. A public hearing could attract several homeowner groups thathave taken positions and dozens of residents on both sides of the heated issue.

Amber Willard NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- City Councilmen might find themselves hemmed in at Tuesday's meeting with the return of the question of whether to allow fences in certain areas. Although the issue is not scheduled for a vote, several residents are expected to voice their opinions during the meeting. The hearing will include the recommendation of the Planning Commission against adopting the ordinance, which would only apply to about 300 homeowners in an area Griffith Park.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- In a city that traditionally put the freeze on fences, a few things have happened lately to suggest a thawing of attitudes toward the front yard barriers. The Glendale City Council earlier this month voted to legalize fences in areas of the city zoned for horses. What's more, Councilman Dave Weaver directed staff to consider other areas where such an amnesty might be appropriate. The way things are going, one might expect that fences will start popping up all over town soon.

Re: The March 30 front page photo, “Glendale Narrows gets a trail” of the new Bette Davis Park bridle trail fence, there's a back story on impacts to the Rancho's Garden Street, homes across from this Los Angeles park near Glendale Riverwalk trailhead, horse amenities, and to Rancho Avenue homeowners. The L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks just completed year-long irrigation system upgrades in the park's two sections that have long benefited from robust border resident stewardship, neighborhood watch and trash pickup.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — For an inning it was close. For the next five, it was a seemingly neverending run parade filled with free passes and extra-base hits — at least for visiting Crescenta Valley High, anyway. But for the host Hoover baseball team, it was the opposite, in which the calamity was only truly halted by the mercy rule, as the Falcons flew away with a 16-1 Pacific League win over the Tornadoes in six innings. "It's a hitter's dream, I'd say," said Falcons starting pitcher Elliot Surrey of playing in the diminutive confines of Hoover's field, which bequeathed eight extra-base knocks to the Falcons, including three home runs.

A 51-year-old homeless man was impaled in the leg Monday night as he tried to climb over an iron fence at Casa Adobe Park, police said. The man, Alfred Khodabakhshi, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with a piece of the fence still in his left leg, according to police reports. Khodabakhshi and a friend, who frequents the park at 1330 Dorothy Drive, reportedly entered the property for a drink from a water fountain, but when the pair tried to leave, they noticed the gates were locked.

The Los Angeles Zoo said it had no plans to increase security at the elephant exhibit a day after a determined visitor climbed over multiple barriers and petted the pachyderms. The enclosure that separates the elephants from visitors is surrounded by multiple obstacles throughout the 6-acre space, including fences, ditches, a pool and shrubbery, said Jason Jacobs, a spokesman for the zoo. That was apparently not enough to stop one woman from climbing into the elephant pen Tuesday.

Areas of North Glendale will be getting shorter building height limits and the ability to install front yard fences that are banned in most parts of the city under a new community plan unanimously approved by the City Council this week. City officials are working their way from community to community developing plans to create a blueprint for what residents and stakeholders want an area to look like. They began in North Glendale, which includes the Whiting Woods, Sparr Heights, Crescenta Highlands and Montrose Shopping Park areas, almost four years ago. North Glendale residents said in dozens of community meetings that they wanted less dense development in order to preserve mountain views.

Burbank police continue to investigate how a 61-year-old man driving eastbound on Verdugo Avenue ended up colliding with a tree Monday evening. “At some point the car veered to the left and went into westbound lanes [of Verdugo] and hit a tree,” Burbank Police Officer Joshua Kendrick said. The vehicle hit the curb and ending up hitting the tree, he added. The incident was reported about 5:15 p.m. Monday, near Fairview Street. Kendrick said the matter remains under investigation and police are not sure what caused the man, who was not immediately identified, to lose control of the vehicle.

If you recall, I was in the process of getting bids to erect a fence so that my dog Noble wouldn't poke his head through the shrubs to my neighbor's yard. Over a three-day period, I had six different fence contractors, all but one Burbank or Glendale companies, come out to my house and give me their advice and, most importantly, their estimates. It turns out that no matter the material, chain-link, redwood or vinyl, or if the fence was to be three feet or six feet high, the estimates were similar - between $3,000-3,400.  It's as if the word spread around town that the Crosbys needed a new fence so they all agreed upon the same price.

City officials and dozens of area residents gathered Saturday morning in Glendale's Griffith Manor Park to celebrate its reopening after 10 months and $2.9 million worth of extensive renovations. Once little more than a decaying lawn, the three-acre park in the city's industrial San Fernando corridor now features new childrens playgrounds, a lighted basketball court, shaded picnic areas, security fences, an expanded parking lot and a brand-new, 2,400-square-foot community building.

The City Council on Tuesday raced to issue $50 million in bonds through a redevelopment agency that could end up being eliminated in the coming days as part Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan. The bonds would help pay for a range of projects in the center of the city, including Glendale Central Library upgrades and a new open-air passageway from Brand Boulevard to the library grounds. But under Brown’s proposal, which the state Legislature could vote on as early as this week, Glendale and roughly 400 other local governments throughout California could lose their redevelopment agencies, and with them, the ability to collect the difference in higher property taxes on improved land to pay off bond debt.

Glendale resident Minas Soukasians would have just given away the pomegranates that someone cut through his backyard fence to steal, but they never asked. Soukasians on Monday noticed the tall tree, which once sparkled with ruby-colored fruit, was almost barren. "I can't believe it," he said. Upon further inspection of the tree, Soukasians said he noticed a gaping hole in the fence. Someone had cut the chain-link to steal the more than 20 pomegranates. "I have been waiting the whole year for this fruit," he said.