Glendale planning commission denies appeal, upholds variance allowing Hotel Indigo to add floor area

The Glendale Planning Commission on May 6 denied an appeal from Unite Here Local 11 and upheld a planning hearing officer's decision to grant a variance allowing the Hotel Indigo at 515—623 North Central Avenue to increase its floor-area ratio (FAR) to 3.25.

Staff had recommended approval, saying the proposed 3,201-square-foot addition on the mezzanine and seventh floor would fit within the already approved building envelope and cause only a minimal increase in mass and bulk. "Given the location of the proposed additional floor area, the mass and bulk of the project would only slightly increase," staff told the commission and recommended the variance as conditioned in the staff report.

Why it matters: The appeal centered on three legal and procedural claims from the union-backed appellant: that the required variance findings were unsupported by substantial evidence, that the project was ineligible for a Class 32 CEQA infill exemption because the…