Glendale hearing officer takes banquet‑hall permit renewal under submission after staff recommends approval

The City of Glendale Planning Hearing Officer on Dec. 3, 2025 took under submission two related permit applications seeking to continue banquet‑hall operations and authorize on‑site alcohol service at 820 and 822 East Colorado Street. Hearing Officer Cassandra Pruitt closed the public hearing after staff recommended approval with a package of conditions and no members of the public provided comment.

Alan Lambert, the city case planner, told the hearing that staff recommends approval of a conditional use permit renewal and an administrative use permit for on‑site service and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Lambert said the project qualifies for a Class 1 CEQA categorical exemption because it continues existing uses and includes a 180‑square‑foot corridor addition that does not exceed the exemption threshold.

Lambert summarized the required findings in the staff report and the draft conditions aimed at minimizing neighborhood impacts: the site is in a C‑3 commercial zone, provides 42 on‑site parking spaces (the code minimum cited in the report was 33 for the project), and is located in a census tract the Police Department described as having five on‑sale alcohol establishments and crime roughly 22% below the citywide average. Recommended conditions include alcohol served indoors only by ABC‑licensed caterers with food; limits on the type of events (staff proposed no more than two private invitation‑only parties at a time); posted event schedules; landscaped and enclosed trash areas; preservation of street trees; noise, lighting, and smoking controls; requirement for on‑site management and trained security during events; surveillance systems for large events; traffic circulation controls (exiting patrons to turn right only onto Colorado Street); and a prohibition on outdoor storage.

Lambert noted several draft condition numbers that address unpermitted alterations and the legalization of the existing corridor (conditions 1, 2, 3 and 11), parking and circulation (5, 6, 17, 18, 19), event limits and posting (9 and 12), landscaping and tree preservation (13 and 14), trash enclosure (16), and the outdoor storage prohibition (29). The staff report states the permit is set to expire on December 3, 2035 and that repeated violations could lead to revocation.

Applicant Ara Hyrapetyan said the business has operated at the site for more than 20 years, provided details about recent landscaping and security practices, and told the hearing the management is pursuing planning and building permits to legalize the ~180‑square‑foot corridor. Hyrapetyan asked whether, if the decision were favorable, the city could grant the permits indefinitely rather than require renewal; Hearing Officer Pruitt said she would take that under consideration.

Lambert reported that Public Works Traffic Engineering had no comments and that the Glendale Police Department had recommended the standard conditions reflected in the draft. Pruitt also raised a prior code‑compliance notation (graffiti and trash in January 2025); Lambert said he had not received a Neighborhood Services response but that condition 28 addresses graffiti and trash and is a standard condition for similar projects.

Because no callers or in‑person members of the public provided testimony, the applicant had no rebuttal. Pruitt closed the hearing and stated the case would be taken under submission; she said the decision will be prepared in writing and mailed to the applicant and to any parties who responded to the public notice, with the right to appeal under Glendale Municipal Code Title 30, Chapter 30.62 within 15 days of the decision date.

Notes on names and record variants: the application lists the owner as Avidus Kashishian for Syat Nova LLC; the staff report and the applicant’s statements contain variant spellings of the business and applicant names in the hearing record (examples include "Syat Nova," "Sayanova," and alternate spellings of the applicant’s surname). The article uses the names as they appear in the submitted record and flags the spelling variants in case parties seek official document confirmation.