Winning OK for Hillside Plan Is an Uphill Battle for Gregg

John L. Gregg says his company “hasn’t pulled a permit in 10 years,� but its name remains prominent in Glendale for the thousands of homes that Gregg’s Artistic Homes--founded by his mother and then reestablished later by Gregg--built in Glendale from 1934 until the late 1980s.

Gregg’s Artistic Homes has relied on real estate investments for the past 10 years, according to the 65-year-old developer, who has spent much of that time seeking permission to build Oakmont View V, a 572-home development proposed for a 238-acre site on a hillside above Oakmont Country Club.

The project has been a source of contention between Gregg’s company and Glendale city officials for most of the ‘90s--and also the focus of an effort by environmentalists to prevent development in the Verdugo Mountains.

Supporters cite Gregg’s long record of building in the city and his reputation for quality homes, but opponents say the project would ruin the hillside and eliminate much-needed open space.

Such disputes would hardly have been the subject of public debate when Gregg started his firm in 1958, pursuing a family tradition stretching back to the early part of this century.

Gregg’s grandfather, Vern E. Gregg, developed subdivisions in Missouri before World War I. Gregg’s mother, Alice Lee Gregg, founded Gregg’s Artistic Homes in Glendale in 1934 when his father, J. Lee Gregg, was bedridden for more than a year with tuberculosis. His mother was a licensed architect and is believed to have been the first female contractor licensed in California.

Gregg started his company in 1958 after graduating from Stanford University with a degree in economics and doing a stint in the U.S. Air Force. The Greggs had been out of the home-building game for two years, beginning in 1956, by which time poor health had forced both his father and his uncle, Edgar Gregg, from the business. John Gregg, who took out a bank loan to reestablish the business, now runs it with his son, J. Lee Gregg III, and his brother, Robert.

The controversy over the Oakmont View V project and the expenses his company has incurred illustrate how much times have changed since Gregg restarted the family business.

His company has spent more than $1.9 million since 1996 on an environmental impact report, legal fees, geology studies, biological studies, engineering work and other expenses connected with the Oakmont proposal, Gregg said.

“The tree count study alone cost $50,000,� he said.

In contrast, he said, the planning, engineering and permit costs totaled $1,900 when he built his first development of 14 homes on Capistrano Circle in Glendale.

“In 1958, there was no question I would be able to build,� he said. “It was just a question of whether we would be able to get 13 or 14 lots on the property.�

Today, Gregg isn’t sure whether or when he might be able to build Oakmont View V--or how many homes Glendale might ultimately allow.

The city at one time said Gregg’s project should fall under strict hillside development rules adopted in 1993. But Gregg filed a lawsuit claiming that the Oakmont project should be processed under the regulations in effect in 1992, when the company first applied to build it.

The project is now being processed under the pre-1993 rules with the stipulation that Gregg drop its lawsuit in return.

Based on typical times required for review and approval of the environmental impact report, the earliest the Oakmont project could go to the Glendale City Council for a vote would be the spring of next year, said Dave Bobardt, a senior planner with the city.

The environmental impact report itself is expected to become the subject of much debate among Oakmont V supporters and opponents when it is distributed for public comment.

Opponents of the project include Glendale-Crescenta VOICE, a citizens group.

“Our ultimate goal is to preserve the land as open space,� said Max Hobbs, vice president of VOICE, which supports a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy effort to buy the land from the Greggs to preserve it. “A project of this magnitude would destroy the mountain environment.�

If the preservation effort fails and the land is developed, Hobbs said, VOICE wants development limited to 48 homes.

Rorie Skei, deputy director of the conservancy, said the project site should be preserved because it is “very lushly vegetated property that lies entirely within a Verdugo Mountains significant ecological area.

“We wouldn’t characterize our position as being opposed to this specific project, we would characterize it as proposing the preservation of the land,� Skei said.

The conservancy worked with state Sen. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) to include a $5-million appropriation toward the purchase of the land in the latest California budget signed by Gov. Gray Davis.

The Greggs say, however, that $5 million wouldn’t come close to the fair market value of the land.

“We had an independent appraisal done in 1991 that placed the value of the land at $46 million,� said Lee Gregg. “I’m not saying the land is worth $46 million now, and I’m not suggesting any other specific figure, but $5 million is far off the mark.�

John Gregg believes much of the opposition to his project comes from a misconception that the Oakmont View V project would resemble two other nearby neighborhoods, Oakmont View III and Oakmont View IV. The company mailed out a promotional flier last month to set the record straight.

Gregg built most of the homes in the Oakmont View I and Oakmont View II developments, which he is proud of, he said, but his company built fewer than two dozen, total, of the 132 homes in the Oakmont View III and Oakmont View IV developments--although Gregg subdivided the latter two developments and sold the lots to other builders.

The homes in Oakmont View V “will look nothing like the homes of Oakmont View IV that were not built by Gregg,� the company’s mailer said. The mailer also promised that each home in Oakmont View V would carry a “Gregg Guarantee� on the size of the home, lot coverage, distance between homes, architectural designs, landscaping and the planting of “twice as many trees� as there are now on the 238 acres.

“He should have the right to develop his property. The city shouldn’t take away his property rights,� said Gerald Barrone, retired president of Coast Savings and a friend of Gregg’s. “If you look at what he has done over the years, you’ll see that he is very sensitive to the environment wherever he builds. If the city had always had this hostility toward hillside development, none of us would have hillside homes today.�

Gregg points out that he is a resident of the community (he lives in Oakmont View IV) and is just as upset about the some of the homes in Oakmont III and Oakmont IV as others apparently are.

On a recent drive through Glendale neighborhoods, Gregg seemed to take delight in pointing out which homes he built and which he didn’t, often adding commentary about such details as who owned the home first and how it had been remodeled since it was built.

Among those he pointed out were a house on Cumberland Road, the first his mother built after starting her company, and the 14 homes on Capistrano Circle.

“I feel very strongly that the costs associated with government regulations have imposed a grievous injustice on consumers by hamstringing and handcuffing the producers of housing. This forces consumers to pay much, much more than they should have to for houses,� Gregg said.

“You never see a movie or a TV show that portrays a developer as anything other than sinister or greedy,� he said. “It’s an untrue image, and it’s unfair.�