Burbank Planners Reject Proposal to Convert Stable for Public Storage

A proposal to convert a horse-boarding stable in the middle of Burbank’s equestrian-residential area into a public storage facility was unanimously rejected late Monday by the city’s Planning Board.

The decision to deny a conditional-use permit to the owners of the Dincara Stock Farm sparked celebration from about 30 horse lovers who had spoken against the conversion. They had complained that increasing development in the neighborhoods surrounding Griffith Park and its 60 miles of riding trials is eroding the equestrian greenbelt of the community.

Even though the property is in an 11-acre area zoned for light-industrial use, city planning officials said a storage facility would be incompatible with the surrounding single-family neighborhood, produce heavy traffic and pose a fire hazard to horses in neighboring stalls.

Owners of the 3.6-acre property, which stretches from Mariposa Street to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, said they would appeal the board’s decision to the Burbank City Council. The issue is expected to come before the council within four weeks.

Tells of Zoning History

“This area has been zoned for light-industrial use for more than 30 years, and the owners have a $3-million investment in this property,” said Richard R. Rogan, an attorney representing the property owners, Thomas H. Hurlburt and John C. Bell.

“With that kind of an investment, they don’t want to sell lots for single-family homes so that kiddies can have a horsey to ride on the trails,” Rogan said. “There’s no way they can ever make back their money that way.”

Rogan said Hurlburt and Bell, along with other investors, bought the property about a year ago. They first proposed to put a 226-unit apartment project on the property, but that would have required rezoning it to a multifamily zone. The proposal was opposed by residents and horse lovers.

To conform more with the existing light-industrial zoning, the owners applied for a conditional-use permit to place six storage buildings on the site, along with a caretaker’s apartment.

Purpose of Zoning Told

However, city officials said the light-industrial zoning of the area is meant principally to accommodate stables and horse-keeping residences, and that a public storage facility would not conform.

“There’s not an area like this anywhere in Burbank, or in Los Angeles,” Jef Vander Borght, a board member, said Tuesday. “Just because an area is zoned one way doesn’t mean it’s compatible with what’s there now.”

In rejecting the proposal, the board also approved a recommendation that the entire 11-acre area, which extends south to the Los Angeles River, be rezoned from light-industrial to single-family homes with horses.