Re: Appeal of Design Review Board decision PDR 1723012-B; 1633 S. Victory Blvd. 3-story, 64-room hotel with ingress and egress access to 2 level of underground parking from public alleyway — allowing for a single business monopolization of alleyway and burden of cumulative traffic congestion.
As the date approaches for our appeal case to be heard by City Council, we will be adding photos to our feature called “alley traffic of the day.” The point of this is so that our concerns about cumulative alley congestion, resident access, and potential of injury are not heard as typical generic cries of “traffic,” but are instead clearly demonstrated, over time, and shown to be a real condition, not merely an opinion based in projection, assumptions, or fear.
Today’s traffic photos of the day feature a regular sight along our public alleyway. Tuesday is the day that Glendale municipal sanitation vehicles empty the single residence and business trash, recycling, and green waste bins for locations along Western Ave. and Winchester Ave. For the Western Ave. side of the alleyway, the trucks enter from the Lake St. mouth of the alley and exit via Victory Blvd. The opposite path is followed along the same alleyway to service residents along Winchester Ave.
Below: Two municipal sanitation vehicles travel along the alleyway simultaneously, providing their service to residents and businesses along Western Ave.
Below: After several pauses to empty the many containers along the alley, each truck proceeds to exit the alley via Victory Blvd. Both trucks are required to move to their left to navigate around a tow truck and exit the alleyway. This maneuver happens directly across from (and in the approach to) the proposed hotel’s planned underground parking entrance/exit. The municipal vehicles require the use of the left lane to avoid prolonged congestion of the public alleyway.
Below: Both trucks exit (turning left) onto Victory Blvd. after passing the tow truck
The issue of requiring the hotel Applicant to keep hotel traffic on the hotel property due to the effect of cumulative alleyway congestion was brought to the attention of the Glendale Design Review Board. Remarkably, they treated it as a non-issue or one of little importance. They gave consideration only on WHERE to place the hotel’s entrance to underground parking, but none to the effect it will have. Without the filed appeal for a redesign of the hotel project and (hopefully) the wisdom of City Council to correct this problem, the DRB decision would be final. And all of the future consequences will become the burden of local residents.
It is our sincere hope that the Glendale City Council will view these photographs and consider all of their implications; from issues regarding resident inconvenience and prevention of usage, to the potential for property damage, injury, or fatality.
Please email City Council at the addresses below and let them know that measures must be taken to mitigate the cumulative traffic congestion caused by allowing hotel patrons to occupy both lanes of alley traffic. The solution to this is to require incoming hotel traffic to approach the underground parking entrance while remaining on the hotel property exclusively, and only exiting into the public alleyway. This method of incoming traffic approach has been used by all businesses previously located at the same location.
Voice your opposition to PDR-1723012-B by emailing or speaking to CITY COUNCIL
- “Zareh Sinanyan” <zsinanyan@glendaleca.gov>
- “Paula Devine” <pdevine@glendaleca.gov>
- “Ara Najarian” <anajarian@glendaleca.gov>
- “Vartan Gharpetian” <vgharpetian@glendaleca.gov>
- “Vrej Agajanian” <vagajanian@glendaleca.gov>
FOLLOW UP: The scenario of alley congestion cited above is not a rarity. It is a common sight and occurs among a variety of vehicles daily. Shortly after taking the above photos, we obtained more of our municipal sanitation vehicles making their designated rounds.
Below: Servicing the Winchester Ave. side of the alleyway, a municipal sanitation vehicle collects brown trash bins. This truck is required to wait while a local Western Ave. resident (black car) exits their carport. (time: 9:25 a.m.)
Below: To reach this point, the Glendale sanitation vehicle had to pass a van servicing the Chevron Extra-Mile shop (time: 9:25 a.m.) . Though we missed the moment of navigation between the two vehicles, it is obvious by the time stamps (merely seconds apart) that the sanitation vehicle had to pass this van to follow its designated course. This course is directly in front of the hotel’s proposed underground parking entrance/exit from which the Applicant expects to allow multiple instances of two-way traffic throughout the day, every day.
Below: Yet another Glendale municipal sanitation vehicle travels along the Winchester Ave. side of the alley to collect garden waste from residential green containers (time 9:43 a.m.).
