Neighbors press safety, access and view concerns as hearing officer takes 3296 Fulbrook Court variance request under submission

The Planning Hearing Officer took under submission a pair of variance requests for 3296 Fulbrook Court after staff recommended approval with conditions and multiple neighbors urged denial or revision because of emergency‑access, wildfire risk, parking and view impacts.

Sholekia Permian, the case planner, summarized the application: the owner seeks permission to construct a two‑story, 1,716‑square‑foot single‑family house with an attached two‑car garage on a vacant 6,274‑square‑foot hillside lot in the R1R zone. The Glendale zoning code requires a minimum 7,500‑square‑foot lot for development in that zone, so the applicant requested a standard variance for lot size and a second variance to allow a 15‑foot driveway where 18 feet is required. Permian said the site has an average slope of roughly 67%, that one oak tree would be affected, and that staff believes the required variance findings can be made; staff recommended approval with 11 conditions (documented in the staff report) and noted a prior, expired variance approval from 1977 in the record.

The applicant’s architect, Leo Chang, and the owners explained the project and the reasons the house is being sited toward the top of the…