Glendale presents draft land-use update and new environmental-justice element; public comment period open through Aug. 19

City planning staff presented the public draft of a comprehensive update to Glendale’s land use element and the city’s first environmental justice element at a special City Council meeting July 15, and opened the documents for public comment.

The draft land use element, released for public review June 30, updates the 1986 land use element, adds two new residential designations and splits the existing mixed-use category into mixed-use residential and mixed-use nonresidential, and proposes a city-owned residential overlay (CORO) that would allow multifamily development on certain city-owned parcels at up to 50 dwelling units per acre, staff said. The environmental justice (EJ) element responds to Senate Bill 1000 and uses CalEnviroScreen and California Air Resources Board mapping to identify EJ communities; staff said the draft identifies 28 environmental justice communities in Glendale.

Why it matters: the land use element sets the city’s long-term, aspirational direction for where and how development is allowed to occur and establishes goals and implementing actions that later guide zoning and development rules. Staff emphasized the presentation was informational only; any zoning changes or development approvals would require later, separate steps including environmental review and council action.

Veil Zematidis, deputy director of long-range planning, told the council, “This is an informational item only, and no decision is…