Glendale officials review 3–5 year Community Development action plan, prioritize seismic retrofits and permit streamlining

City staff presented a draft 3-to-5 year action plan for the Community Development Department at a special Glendale City Council meeting on March 18, 2025, asking the council to prioritize initiatives for the coming fiscal cycle.

“What we bring before you today is, essentially what we're referring to is a draft action plan for the department. We're aiming for a 3 to 5 year vision,” Mr. Calvert said, introducing the plan and describing it as a high-level set of recommended programs rather than a request for specific staffing or dollar amounts.

The presentation grouped proposed initiatives by division and color-coded them as near-term (green), mid-term (orange) and longer-term (red). Staff said the green items — those they view as most urgent — include a seismic retrofit program, enhanced communications, tenant-improvement fast-track permits, night-and-weekend enforcement and a focused project-screening “gatekeeper” to reduce queue times for submitted applications.

The seismic retrofit proposal drew particular attention. Mr. Calvert told the council the city has “over a thousand soft story apartment buildings” that could be at risk in a major earthquake and described retrofit work as both a public-safety priority and potential revenue generator through permitting and grant opportunities.

Council members repeatedly returned to permitting timelines and staffing. “How do you manage all that?” Councilman Managarian asked, expressing skepticism about the breadth of responsibilities grouped in a single department. “I mean how the hell is all this under your department — this is…