Burbank Rally Urges New Curbs on Apartments

About 300 people signed a petition Sunday at a Burbank rally to complain that the city is not doing enough to curb residential development even after voters in February approved the toughest slow-growth measure in the city’s history.

The petition, sponsored by a slow-growth group called Enough Is Enough, asks the Burbank City Council members to pass additional legislation limiting growth in residential neighborhoods, where many single-family homes have been torn down in recent years to make way for large apartment buildings.

“We want to make the city start enforcing the laws,” said Dave Golonski, spokesman for the group. “We have a new slow-growth ordinance and we want to see it enforced.”

Golonski said Sunday’s rally in Verdugo Park brought the total number of signatures on petitions to more than 2,500.

The law approved by voters in February forbids the City Council from granting zoning changes requested by developers who want to build more units on a parcel than are permitted under existing zoning laws. It also contains strict guidelines forcing developers to make new residential buildings more attractive and blend better with their surroundings and prevents the council from making changes in the city’s master plan that would increase the number of residential units.

Members of the homeowners group charged that the city’s Community Development Department, which reviews building permit applications, favors developers when interpreting city building codes. They said they were also upset that planners did not require environmental impact reports for several large apartment complexes recently constructed in single-family home neighborhoods.

City officials were unavailable for comment Sunday.