Board approves replacement front wall at 1728 Don Carlos Avenue with conditions to reduce visible height and return

Glendale’s Design Review Board on June 26 approved a 75‑foot stucco wall and gate at 1728 Don Carlos Avenue (case PDR004630‑2025) but added conditions intended to reduce the wall’s visible height from the public right‑of‑way and to soften its appearance along a neighboring side yard.

Senior planner Nicola Hwadi told the board the applicant constructed the wall without permits to replace a previously permitted wrought‑iron fence that was damaged by a vehicle collision. Hwadi described the property as an unusually configured lot in the Verdugo Woodlands neighborhood with the primary house located near the rear of a 13,875‑square‑foot parcel and a log‑cabin guest house mid‑lot. The new masonry wall spans the 25‑foot front setback line and is about 75 feet in length; pilasters and gates on the submitted plan reach about 6 feet, with lower portions of the proposed wall at about 5 feet, 4 inches.

Property owner Steve Snodgrass, who appeared at the hearing, said safety and liability were central to his decision to replace the damaged fence with a more substantial wall and that he wanted an architectural treatment that brings the cottage and back house into a cohesive visual composition. Snodgrass told the board he was concerned about people entering the 25‑foot setback and about the log cabin being an “anomaly” that he hoped to visually unify with cultured stone, wood gates and landscape.

Neighbors urged different outcomes. Neighbor Megan Schoengert — who said she was the driver in the single‑vehicle collision that struck the old fence — told the board the new solid wall now blocks a 14‑foot portion of her living‑room view. Several other residents called or emailed to object, saying the wall is incompatible with the neighborhood’s generally open front yards; Patty Ring, who lives nearby, said a continuous 7‑foot wall “goes against Glendale’s design review guidelines” and argued that vegetation can die and should not be relied upon to hide masonry.

After deliberation, the board approved the wall with conditions: staff’s request for additional decorative permeable paving details must be provided; the applicant must submit a grading and landscape plan that raises the front‑yard grade and/or provides low retaining edges so that the wall’s exposed height as viewed from the sidewalk is reduced to under 5 feet; and the side return that directly abuts a neighbor’s living room shall be reduced in exposed height to a similar threshold and may include a decorative wrought‑iron top to increase lightness and visibility. The board also asked that final materials match the planned finishes and that the applicant coordinate landscape‑planting details with staff prior to building permit issuance.

The board approved the item 4‑0; staff will verify structural, foundation and electrical‑gate requirements during building permit review.