Victory for Equestrian Interests : Burbank Moves to Limit Development in Rancho

The Burbank City Council on Tuesday took the first step toward restricting industrial development in the city’s Rancho area, where residents are allowed to keep horses.

The council unanimously agreed to swap some city property for privately owned land in the area. They also approved a plan to rezone one of the community’s most controversial pockets from light industrial to residential-equestrian.

The decision marked a victory for Rancho homeowners, who have vehemently sought to protect the rural atmosphere of their community. Residents have battled for years against developers’ proposals to build projects unrelated to horses.

“This has been a difficult project to work on, and I’m so happy that we’ve come to some sort of resolution,” said Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard. “This is euphoria.”

Resident William Hogan praised the council’s vote: “This is an opportunity to do what the residents have wanted done all along.”

The most controversial property has been the 11-acre Mariposa Triangle along narrow Mariposa Street, one of the principal equestrian access roads into adjacent Griffith Park.

The area was zoned several years ago for light-industrial development to accommodate commercial stables, which are not allowed in residential zones. But developers have continued to attempt to build other projects that have nothing to do with horses.

In recent months, the city has received several proposals for developments on the privately owned Triangle property. One developer unsuccessfully sought city approval for a three-building, 147,700-square-foot public storage complex.

One of the property owners, Clayton Cook, applied for a permit to build a 14,000-square-foot building on property he owns in the Triangle area. Homeowner groups filed appeals to block the project.

Under the proposal approved by the council, the city would acquire Cook’s 26,000-square-foot property in the Triangle in exchange for a 32,000-square-foot city-owned parcel on Lake Street north of Burbank Boulevard, said City Planner Rick Pruetz.

The acquisition would be the first step toward the city’s acquiring 5.2 acres of the Mariposa property in a joint venture with the Chandler-Pacifica development company.

On the 5.2 acres, Pruetz, said the city and Chandler-Pacifica hope to build single-family homes where horses can be kept. The lots would be sold for an average of $224,000 each. The zoning would have to be changed to residential-equestrian to accommodate the housing project.