MOUNTAIN OAKS CONDOS, SCHOOL FOUGHT.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

LA CRESCENTA -- A retreat tucked amid 40 acres in the tree-lined Verdugo Mountain foothills that was once home to a local resort and a speakeasy is fast becoming the latest battleground between residents and developers.

The Mountain Oaks area -- a collection of 12 homes overlooking a swath of oak-dotted open space just south of Crescenta Valley County Park -- is being eyed by a Canadian developer as the site for a condominium community and a college-prep high school for Armenian studies.

Though the project has not been submitted to the city -- officials with M. Jorjezian Investments LLC had only talked about a proposal with Glendale city planners in August -- an opposition group has formed to block it.

``You're not going to find something as pristine,'' said Dave Meyers, chairman of Friends of Mountain Oaks and one of the dozen homeowners here. ``Friends of Mountain Oaks wants to see this area preserved for future generations.''

But Rodney Khan, a local development consultant representing the landowner, said his client also is entitled to his property rights.

``This is private property that was purchased in order to be improved,'' he said. ``The level of the improvement -- that's what we're discussing right now.

``Ultimately, it'll be a decision the city of Glendale has to make as to what is acceptable development.''

Mountain Oaks was first drafted between 1929 and 1930 as a country resort community in what was then unincorporated Los Angeles County, Meyers said. But the onset of the Great Depression halted the project -- only 14 homes, a lodge, a swimming pool and an outdoor dance floor were built.

Twelve homes survive today; two were destroyed in fires. The lodge -- a speakeasy during Prohibition -- is mostly in ruins, though its river-rock-encrusted steps and fireplace still stand. The swimming pool was in use until it was condemned after the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake.

Glendale annexed the area in 1952, though it remained a world away from Brand Boulevard. There are no sewers, residents had to raise money to build their own road and still trim their own trees.

Still, for Della Maupin, 77, the area is a quiet piece of country in an increasingly crowded city. She has lived in Mountain Oaks for 35 years and can still recall the moment she set eyes on her Spanish-style cabin at the base of the hill.

``When I came up here, I saw this beautiful house and open space,'' she said. ``You can't not move up here.''

Granada Hills-based M. Jorjezian Investments LLC purchased the property from Mountain Oaks LLC in May for an estimated $7 million. It's the American arm of a British Columbia-based development company of the same name owned by Martique Jorjezian of Vancouver.

Preliminary plans include a low-rise condominium community and a high school, which the developer plans to donate to the local Armenian community, according to a company statement last month.

Khan said the number of homes and the size of the school are still being considered, but areas will be set aside for open space and there will be no construction on the hillsides.

``It's a different way of approaching this site, of what makes the most sense in terms of the policy of the city, which is to maintain as much open space as possible,'' he said.

Still, the property doesn't lend itself to easy development. The city doesn't recognize any existing tract maps, saying the subdivision was drawn illegally in the 1930s without public input.

``Anyone can lay a map down, but that doesn't mean you are creating it legally,'' said Elaine Wilkerson, the city's planning director. ``A number of people have come to the city on several occasions (with projects). We told them what they have to go through, and the others have given up and left.''

Khan said his client intends to start from scratch -- from surveying the property for a new subdivision to conducting an environmental impact study, as required by the city.

``We're going out there to redo everything -- in terms of understanding the soil and understanding the environment,'' he said.

John Drayman, president of the Montrose Shopping Park Association and a longtime resident of north Glendale, said he has received 30 to 50 phone calls a day from locals concerned about the proposed development.

Their biggest fear: It would open up the north face of the Verdugos to more development.

``Many of us view this as the event that will open the floodgates to the development of many privately owned parcels in the area,'' Drayman said. ``Many people believe these areas are already protected. They're not.''

Some opponents have attacked the City Council as developer-friendly, while others have implied that the council's Armenian-American majority is possibly biased toward the developer.

But Drayman said he believes there is room for discussion, if opponents can step back from the heated rhetoric.

``That's a solution -- have a series of meetings outside the glare of the City Council,'' he said. ``But ultimately, any sort of development is going to be met with tremendous opposition.''

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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