City Bond Issue Will Fund Public Works for Big Subdivision

For the first time in Glendale’s history, the City Council on Tuesday agreed to issue tax-exempt bonds for financing streets and other public improvements in the largest residential subdivision ever undertaken.

Council members unanimously endorsed a proposal to issue about $29 million in tax-exempt bonds to pay for construction of streets, sewers and flood-control channels in the Rancho San Rafael subdivision, a 316-acre development to be built east of Mountain Street between the Glendale Freeway and Chevy Chase Drive.

The developers, Homes by Polygon of Costa Mesa and the S. T. MacDonald family of Montrose, said the lump sum provided by the bond sale will allow grading and construction of the 542-unit development to be done faster if the project were privately financed.

Assessments to Be Levied

Assessments will be levied against individual lots and will average $40,000, developers said.

The bond financing will be repaid over a period of years by homeowners in the subdivision as part of their property taxes. Individual lots will serve as collateral for the loan, with no liability against the city, officials said.

The council Tuesday adopted a resolution approving the plan and introduced an ordinance to authorize formation of an assessment district. Sale of the bonds is expected to be authorized before the end of the year, city officials said. Grading at the site is to begin within a month, according to developers.

In other action Tuesday, the council unanimously adopted an earthquake safety ordinance requiring owners of more than 380 antiquated buildings in the city to reinforce their structures.

The law applies to all unreinforced masonry buildings, including residential ones with five or more units, built before 1938.

Although the ordinance will go into effect in 30 days, changes in the zoning code also must be adopted, city officials said. Public hearings on the zoning code are scheduled Oct. 12 before the city Planning Commission and Oct. 27 before the City Council.

Owners will have 30 months to six years to improve their buildings.