Vrej Agajanian

No Response.

Elen Asatryan

This is an important provision to enforce. Otherwise, developers will likely use it as a way to get around preserving valuable historic buildings. Again, I would be open to hearing the viewpoints by members of TGHS and regional historic preservation experts on the best ways to enforce the requirement. As a Council Member, I won’t claim to be an expert on every issue, but I do promise to seek out experts in their respective fields, such as historic preservation, to give me the best approaches.

Dan Brotman

I have long been frustrated with our passive approach to code enforcement in general. I understand starting off with an assumption that the violation is unintentional and focusing the first interaction on education. But when a violation is not quickly remedied, we need to move toward citation and legal referral quickly. This is especially true with violations that threaten permanent impacts or which have a significantly deleterious effect on the community's collective quality of life. I have been vocal about strengthening our code enforcement team and putting in protocols that speed the escalation process to citation and if necessary legal action.

Anita Quinonez Gabrielian

There should be consequences, such as fines associated with demolition by neglect.

Staff must be vigilant as one of the city’s responsibilities is to eliminate blight. The Community Development Department is well-staffed and conducts a needs assessment every 5 years with yearly updates and monitoring. Our city staff should be instructed to be responsive to input from organizations like the GHS. Any demolition by neglect should be analyzed for a root cause that leads to changes to eliminate them.

Jordan Henry

According to Glendale Municipal Code on Historic Preservation (15.20.090 Enforcement), I will instruct the city attorney to file a temporary or permanent injunction against the property holder. Ultimately, council is responsible for enforcing its own code, so civil action is necessary if the resident fails to comply with the Municipal Code. As a councilmember, I will work with HOA’s and community leaders to monitor properties in decline while encouraging more neighborhoods to become historical districts.

Karen Kwak

Properties should not suffer “demolition by neglect,” whether or not they have been identified as historic properties. The City could track all such neglected properties in a systematic way and take steps to find a way to repurpose them or demolish them. Or better yet, the City could assess a tax on vacant, underused, and neglected properties.

Ara Najarian

This is a difficult issue that we have been faced with on the council. Owners of historical properties must not be able to thwart the district protection simply by intentional neglect of the homes. Code enforcement must take a more active role to identify neglected historic properties and impose a burden on the owner to take steps to repair, or at least preserve the integrity of the property through reasonable means.

Isabel Valencia-Tevanyan

I would propose that the staff be instructed in following the historic district guidelines. I would have someone personally go to look at the area and see what are the parts that are lacking and need care and maintenance. Then with proper evidence and documentation, we follow up on it and see if the standards have been met.