Variance

Giggles Nightclub may soon get an updated look, as its owner seeks approval for a new facade and a variance to continue using all of the space as a nightclub. The requests go before the Glendale City Council this afternoon. Giggles, located at 215 N. Brand Blvd., has been operating for more than 20 years and has become a popular nighttime destination in downtown Glendale. Most of the work on its proposed new facade would impact the upper portion of the structure, with the street-level, metal framework around the large windows retained and repainted, according to plans filed with the city.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale zoning administrator will consider a request Wednesday for a variance for a dental office. The office at 134 N. Glendale Ave. would be allowed to operate without the required number of parking spaces if the variance is granted. The hearing is at 9:30 p.m. in Room 104 of the Municipal Services Building, 613 E. Broadway. The zoning administrator also will hear a request for a permit to build a home at 360 Mount Carmel Drive and a variance to build a new three-bedroom house over a five-car garage at 1171 Irving Ave.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- A 40-member church wants a variance to start holding services in Montrose. Grace Partnership Inc. of Los Angeles has applied for a conditional-use permit and a variance to use a building as a church at 2801 Montrose Ave. in a residential district. The zoning administration will hold a hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Room 105 of the Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway. The building has been used by fraternal clubs since 1954.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale zoning administrator will consider a variance today that would allow a Honolulu Avenue building be expanded. The proposal calls for adding 3,547 square feet to a four-story building at 2233 Honolulu Ave. The building would not have to meet requirements for 25 more parking spaces if the variance is granted. The case will be heard at 9:30 a.m. in Room 105 of the Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway. Other cases scheduled include: A request for a variance to convert a three-lube bay at a gas station to a convenience store at 625 N. Pacific Ave. A request for a variance to allow a second ground sign where only one is allowed.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale City Council has set Sept. 5 for a Glendale couple to state why their home should get a variance from city codes. Armen and Siran Mkhitarian, the owners of two homes at 409 and 409 1/2 Salem St. are trying to overturn a decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustments. The front home with two bedrooms has an unpermited addition that the Mkhitarians are trying to legalize. They said they bought the homes without knowing the addition was illegal.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale City Council will hold a hearing May 9 to determine whether a resident can build a hillside home. Edward Simonian wants to build a home at 2632 Kennington Drive on a lot that measures 6,229 square feet. City codes require a minimum of 7,500 square feet. Simonian also needs a variance because he wants a 4-foot setback from the street when a 15-foot setback is required. The slope on the property at 63.5% also exceeds city codes.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- The Glendale zoning administrator will consider today issuing a variance to allow a car wash to be constructed at 3600 N. Verdugo Road. The lot is less than 25,000 square feet with a fuel pump island located closer than the required 15-foot minimum setback. The hearing is at 9:30 a.m. in Room 105 of the Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway. In other cases, the zoning administrator will consider a variance to legalize an addition to a home without the required number of parking spaces and minimum garage width at 2010 Glenwood Road.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- An addition to a Glendale home will have to go. The Glendale City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to reject a request of Armen and Siran Mkhitarian of Glendale for a variance that would legalize a 306-square-foot addition to a home at 409 Salem St. The addition was built in 1995 before the Mkhitarians owned the home. The construction, which was done without permits, violated the city's code in its setback from the property line.

Buck Wargo CITY HALL -- A vocational school for medical careers will not go into a commercial building on North Pacific Avenue. The Glendale City Council voted 3-0 Tuesday to deny Vardan Karagezian a hearing to overturn a decision by the Board of Zoning Adjustments denying him a variance to allow his school at 1101 N. Pacific Ave. Karagezian needed variances because he was unable to meet city parking codes and...

Glendale City Council on Tuesday approved plans for a new facade at Giggles Nightclub and a variance to allow the business to use all of its space as a nightclub. Under a Downtown Specific Plan approved by the Council in 2006, a nightclub cannot operate within the first 25 feet of tenant space fronting Brand Boulevard in the area surrounding the Alex Theatre. City staff originally had placed a 10-year limit on the variance, but City Council members agreed that two five-year extensions should be added, provided there are no violations of the conditions outlined in the variance.

Giggles Nightclub may soon get an updated look, as its owner seeks approval for a new facade and a variance to continue using all of the space as a nightclub. The requests go before the Glendale City Council this afternoon. Giggles, located at 215 N. Brand Blvd., has been operating for more than 20 years and has become a popular nighttime destination in downtown Glendale. Most of the work on its proposed new facade would impact the upper portion of the structure, with the street-level, metal framework around the large windows retained and repainted, according to plans filed with the city.

Not a big fan of a sign of the times Am I the only one in Glendale who is "offended" by the real estate agents' billboard on the hillside above the Glendale (2) and Ventura (134) freeways? William Slaughter Glendale Gym variance would be a parking nightmare Planning Commissioner Stephanie Landregan hit the nail on the head in summing up the commission's decision to deny a variance for the construction of a school gym — the school would benefit without considering the significant disadvantage to the neighborhood ("Planning Commission denies proposed gym at Chamlian Armenian School," Jan. 21)

CITY HALL — City commissioners last week granted a variance needed for a building in the San Fernando Corridor to serve as the permanent location for PATH Achieve Glendale, the city’s main homeless services provider. With the organization’s lease set to expire in June, PATH Achieve directors last year voted to pursue a permanent location that could better meet the center’s needs, such as providing better separation between individuals and families. After scouting several locations, a nonprofit set up by the PATH Achieve Glendale Board of Directors bought a property at 1851 Tyburn St., which is within walking distance from the city’s southwest border with Atwater, to serve as the nonprofit’s emergency shelter and access center.

CITY HALL — Proposed development projects throughout the city could receive a second shot at becoming a reality, under a proposal the City Council will vote on next week. At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, council members expressed support to grant a two-year extension on building entitlements, such as variances, and building design reviews in response to the increasing number of projects being affected by the economic downturn. The ordinance, which still must be approved next week, was introduced without debate.

The Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday will consider approving a sign variance for the new location of the restaurant Panera Bread, at 300 N. Brand Blvd. The variance, one of several the restaurant has had to procure, would allow for a mural, which is larger than what would normally be allowed for the California Avenue frontage. In the past few weeks, the restaurant has been obtaining variances for its signage and a proposed 10-by-70-foot wall mural to prepare for its opening. Construction at the corner site has been ongoing for weeks, and recently construction crews removed materials blocking the revamped store from public view, revealing a nearly completed interior.

CITY HALL — Owners of a gas station Wednesday promised to step up their vigilance against the ill effects of alcohol sales in an effort to regain a zoning permit that would allow them to sell it in the first place. Convenience Retailers LLC have been selling alcohol at the gas station’s mini-market at 475 W. Colorado St. for four years without the required city zoning permit, but had a temporary California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control license to sell liquor and wine.

CITY HALL — The future of zoning variances in most residential areas comes down to a City Council vote tonight on two competing ordinances. On one end is an ordinance that would ban property owners from applying to build something other than what is allowed in single-family and low-density residential zones. On the other is a proposal to maintain the current policy of allowing exemptions, with the exception of diverting applications straight to the Planning Commission rather than the city zoning administrator.

CITY HALL — Councilmen Bob Yousefian and Ara Najarian succeeded Tuesday in temporarily blocking efforts to ban zoning-use variances from single-family neighborhoods, pushing instead to further discuss the implications of the proposed legislation. The move to avoid voting on a draft code amendment introduced last week that was strongly supported by the city’s homeowners associations came after the two councilmen argued against the legislation as perhaps too rash a response to a contentious fight last year to keep a single-family home from converting to commercial office use on East Glenoaks Boulevard.

CITY HALL — The Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously voted to recommend to the City Council that all existing property zoned for residential be prohibited from changing use. Property owners have historically sought out the so-called use variances when their parcels are zoned for a purpose other than what the owner wants to build or operate on the lot. Private schools, hospitals, a community center and day care facilities have...