Header image alt text

Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

In my last blog I shared a proposed development project along 83rd Avenue where 70 rental town houses are proposed surrounded by Suburban Residential (SR-17), large lot properties. It is simply a bad proposal and needs to be rejected.

Here’s another further update on 83rd Avenue, at the southeast corner of 83rd Avenue and Glendale Avenue. The same Jon Froke who is representing the property owners asking for the 70 town houses was initially involved with this parcel as well. In fact, he was successful in getting this parcel zoned Planned Area Development (PAD).

The current proposed plan for this southeast corner is seeking yet another multifamily apartment complex and a Quik Trip gas station. There are many things wrong with this proposal but the most disturbing is the Quik Trip.

There is some history regarding the intersection of 83rd and Glendale. Mr. Sam Senato owns the property at the northwest corner. To date, he has refused to sell. Currently there is a vacant bar, Ella’s, on that corner. There is also a food truck that seems to have taken up permanent residence and has installed a permanent canopy for its patrons. I asked our Code Department to investigate this situation and apparently Mr. Senato has given the food truck operator his permission to conduct their business on his property. By the way, Mr. Senato is an absentee landlord. Apparently, as long as they have Mr. Senato’s permission, they can operate there.

On the southwest corner is a Walgreen’s and a Circle K convenience store/gas station. On the northeast corner there is an abandoned Texaco station that has been that way for over 15 years. I, and many residents, were relieved when we learned that a 7-11 was acquiring this site. I met with representatives of the prospective owners and reviewed their plans and it seemed everything was good to go.

Then, everything fell apart and the site is once again for sale. What caused 7-11 to leave? The property owner of the southeast corner has proposed a Quik Trip on their site along with a multifamily complex. When 7-11 learned of the Quik Trip, they abandoned their plan to develop the site.

The city should not accept a new gas station, Quik Trip, when there is a gas station site, vacant for 15 years that should be developed. If that Quik Trip is allowed to proceed, it will guarantee that the abandoned Texaco site will remain the ugly eyesore it is for another 15 years. Am I the only one that believes this to be short sighted and dumb?

I have noted of late that there is a stampede to build not only more gas stations but car washes as well. We do not need a gas station and car wash on every corner of our city. I have asked our City Attorney to suggest a way that I can propose a 6-month moratorium of both uses. I believe this is an issue our City Council should address by the development of new guidelines regulating the development of both types of uses within our city. I do not know if I will be successful but I want to give it a try.

I am hosting a meeting on Monday, March 7th at 6PM at the northernmost ramada adjoining Heroes Lake at 83rd and Bethany. If you live anywhere in this area, please plan to attend. We will be discussing both the 70 town houses and the Quik Trip. It is time for you to voice your objections to both of these ill-advised proposals. Please join me that evening.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

There is a 4.58 acre property located at 5136 N. 83rd Avenue. For years the family raised Mastiffs. The parents are elderly now and the daughter is selling the property. So far, that sounds OK and it is but not at the expense of their neighbors and the surrounding area.

Jon Froke was the city’s planning director for many years and back in the day, he assisted in

Georgia Avenue

preserving the 83rd Avenue corridor for large, residential lot development. Now, he owns Froke Urban Planning, LLC. and is representing the property owners of this acreage. Apparently, preserving the 83rd Ave. corridor for large lot development is no longer on his agenda. This is the only area in west Glendale where prospective owners can find lots that are 8,000 SF, 10,000 SF, a half-acre, an acre or even larger.

Mr. Froke, representing the property owners, is seeking a General Plan Amendment from Low Density Residential (LDR2.5) to High Density Residential 20 (HDR 20, 20 units to the acre) and a Rezoning from Suburban Residence (SR-17) to Multifamily Residence (R-3). At the nationally recognized average 2.3 persons per unit that adds another 161 residents. In terms of traffic that could add about 300 trips (coming and going) per day. It will certainly impact traffic in this area.

It should also be noted that these large  residential properties are selling for a minimum of $600,000 to over a million dollars. Many of these properties are irrigated and the SRP yearly cost to water many of them is $200.00. Almost all have horse privileges.

This proposed development is not compatible with the surrounding area. The only necessary buffer is an 8 Ft. wall on the south side of the 4.5 acre property with heavy landscaping.

Montebello Ave

On both the northeast corner and the northwest corner of 83rd Ave. and Camelback Road there is commercial. On the northeast corner there is a small commercial center that includes a convenience store/gas station and an Arby’s, among others. On the northwest corner is Dignity Emergency Center and an EOS Fitness Center. The property owner and Mr. Froke claim the 70 town houses will be a buffer for the existent large lot properties to the north and west of this property. But wait a minute, there is no buffer between the commercial on the northeast corner and the acre properties abutting to the north side and east side of the commercial parcel. They have co-existed for 20 years or better without an issue.

So the claim that the 70 town houses are needed as a buffer for adjacent large properties to the north and west is not historically supported by existent development.

To give you a sense of what the area contains here is a map of the area:

As you can see there is a sea of green (SR-17) surrounding both commercial corners. The yellow portions are R 1-8 (8,000 SF lots); the cream portions are R 1-10 (10,000 SF lots). The gold portions are around 75th Avenue and are typical R 1-6 (6,000 SF lots). The red, purple and light blue portions on the corners of 83rd Avenue and Camelback Road are General Office, Commercial or Planned Area Development (PAD) and are lighter commercial.

If you live in this area, along 83rd Avenue, please check my Facebook page, Joyce Clark, as I

Missouri Estates

plan to call a meeting in the very near future of any residents who oppose this high density proposal. Action will be required by citizens to let the Planning Commission and the Mayor and City Council know that this is not compatible with the residential properties in this area.

© Joyce Clark, 2022      

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Tuesday afternoon, February 8, 2022, I received word that HB 2476 had been pulled from consideration by the House Commerce Committee by one of its sponsors, Representative Cesar Chavez. I think it is safe to say the bill is dead and buried.

I want to thank all who responded by emailing or calling Representatives. You did you job and your actions worked. This was an example of true democracy working. Again, thanks to all who made their voice heard.

Here is Representative Chavez’ press release on the matter:

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.