Landscaping

Karen S. Kim DOWNTOWN -- The Glendale Redevelopment Agency is hoping to put down roots in the downtown area, planting 41 street trees and landscaping four public parking lots on Orange and Maryland avenues between Lexington and Wilson avenues. And some local merchants say they're glad for the green. "I think trees are great," said Tim Dietlein, co-owner of the Glendale Centre Theatre on Orange Avenue. "[Orange Street] is a barren wasteland. Trees will only add to the look and ambience of the area.

Glendale?s Design Review Board #2 has approved the addition of a car wash to the Union 76 station at 3402 Foothill Blvd., along with substantial landscaping on a site which has none at present. Consultant Rodney V. Khan presented the case to the board, saying the addition consists of a 684-square-foot car wash and a 192-square-foot equipment room to be added to the west of the station. Khan said the owner plans to add 3,700 square feet of landscaping around the site and to reorganize the parking to provide 15 marked spaces.

Amber Willard NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Helping to keep the city pretty paid off Tuesday for some local businesses. The businesses, which had planted flowers and other landscaping around their properties, received a big "thank you" from Glendale Beautiful -- a nonprofit citizens group that works to keep and establish "green" areas in the city. "We went all over the city, driving around and taking pictures," said Shirley Darling, the group's awards committee chairwoman, of how candidates were selected.

This letter responds to Robert Chacon's story "Felled CVWD trees still draw ire." The Board of Directors of the Crescenta Valley Water District called a special meeting for 7 p.m. Jan. 27 to discuss the district's landscaping plans. With all the hoopla I was hearing about community outrage, I was certain that the district offices would be filled to overflowing. Surely, everyone would be there to express his feelings. Well, all five board members were in attendance, as was the general manager and his staff.

CITY HALL ? A new state law that mandates all future landscaping to meet complicated water-efficiency standards has left city planners scrambling to implement more streamlined regulations. The California Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, which went into effect this year, aims to decrease water-hungry landscaping and irrigation runoff. The regulations apply to public and private development of at least 2,500 square feet and residential projects of at least 5,000 square feet.

CITY HALL — A 26,000-square-foot mixed-use medical office building proposed for the city’s San Fernando corridor received initial city approval Tuesday. At a joint meeting of the City Council and Redevelopment Agency, the Broadway development, a four-story building slated for 606 and 610 W. Broadway, was approved on a 4-0 vote with Mayor Frank Quintero absent. Two structures on the lots would be demolished to make way for the development, which would house 1,600 square feet of ground floor retail space, and 25,000 square feet of general and medical office space, according to a city report.

GLENDALE — A pair of workers planted another tree on the sidewalk at Adams Square Wednesday, putting some finishing touches on a long-awaited streetscape project. The project's completion is about a month away. But already, the street and landscaping improvements, where an enclave of shops and residential homes on Chevy Chase Drive, Acacia Avenue, Adams Street and Park Avenue co-exist against a hillside backdrop, lend a European feel. There's even an old fountain and a newly-installed trellis to complete the look.

LA CRESCENTA — A day after it gained control of St. Luke’s of the Mountains Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles initiated a major property makeover. Landscape workers were busy early Tuesday, using a bulldozer to clear dead plants and tending to a garden that had fallen into poor condition in recent months, said the Right Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the six-county diocese. “It was sad for me yesterday when I saw how it had fallen into disarray,” said Bruno, who thought the grounds had not been well-managed as the diocese’s court-mandated date for taking over the church approached.

With the new landscaping regulations adopted Tuesday by the City Council, Glendale may look like a desert before long. And, ironically, that may be the best way to go green. For years, the city has required that residents’ front and side yards be fully landscaped with grass, gardens, trees, shrubs and other plant life — in short, things that require water on a regular basis. As the state forecasts severe cutbacks in water imports this summer, however, the council passed a new rule that up to 49% of front yard landscaping can consist of rocks, mulch, bark and other materials that survive out in the sun. Anyone who has visited a big city in the desert — Santa Fe, for example — can vouch that it’s possible to create beautiful landscaping with brown the predominant color.