Burbank Seeks Compromise : Residents, Developers Battle for Media District

Barbara Spork talks about growing up in Toluca Lake, recalling how she enjoyed gazing out the large window in the family room at the beauty of the Verdugo Mountains a few miles away on the other side of Burbank.

Spork, 68, who has lived in the same house on North Rose Street for 50 years, now speaks in disgusted tones about the towering office buildings two streets away that block the view she cherished. One of the buildings, known as the Geiger Tower, at 32 stories is the tallest building in the San Fernando Valley.

“There’s this monster right in front of the window that ruins the whole view,” Spork said. “We’re unable to see the hills anymore. And we have no privacy. People in these buildings can look right down into our back yards. The whole residential environment is destroyed.”

4 Years of Studies

After almost four years of studies, hearings and complaints from developers, business owners and residents, the bitter conflict of increasing development versus residential serenity in Burbank’s “Media District” is about to take center stage at City Hall. The district, dominated by several motion picture and television studios, is a 1.2-square-mile area in the southwest corner of Burbank.

Next month, the City Council is scheduled to consider a specific plan for the area that is designed to strike a balance between property owners who want to develop in the area and residents who are adamant about keeping noise, traffic congestion and industry from overwhelming their neighborhoods near the district’s main thoroughfares--Barham Boulevard, Alameda Avenue and Olive Avenue.

“In this particular area, there are genuine, heartfelt, legitimate interests that conflict,” City Manager Bud Ovrom said. “It’s actually the two elements of the American dream that are battling each other. The residents want their house on a quiet street with a picket fence and a nice quality of life. But people also have to have a job and a paycheck to keep up the mortgage payments.”

Public Hearing

The first in a series of public hearings on the plan is scheduled July 18 at Jordan Junior High School.

Both sides--residents and developers--are angry with some of the proposed restrictions, officials said. While several residents feel that there has been too much development, studio executives fear that future expansion of their facilities will be jeopardized and that the city owes them priority consideration.

The plan includes what city officials say may be one of the strictest building controls in the state. Under that provision, developers might be allowed to build only one square foot of floor area for every square foot of property.

Other restrictions on high-rises are being proposed. For example, buildings 25 to 50 feet high would be required to be at least 25 feet from the edge of a residential neighborhood, and buildings 50 to 150 feet high would have to be 35 feet from such a neighborhood.

Height Limits

Height limits on high-rise buildings are being considered. Also, developers who want to build structures more than 35 feet high might have to apply for a conditional-use permit, which would require public hearings.

The hearings beginning next month will mark the culmination of years of study by a committee of merchants, developers and residents, as well as city planning board members, which studied a preliminary draft plan for the area.

Developers and city officials say the area is integral to the city’s entertainment-oriented image and its economic future.

The district, which is bordered roughly by the Ventura Freeway, Oak Street, Keystone Street and Clybourne Avenue, is a popular business center because of its proximity to several freeways leading to Hollywood, Los Angeles and the Valley. Ovrom speculated that one of every five Burbank residents works in the Media District.

About 5.2 million square feet of commercial development was built in the district before June, 1986; another 2 million square feet has been built or approved since June, 1986, and an additional 5.9 million square feet are anticipated in coming years, city officials said.

Expansion Plans

All of the studios have said they intend to expand their facilities. The Burbank Studios, which includes Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures, wants to build almost 3.8 million square feet. NBC wants to build 1.4 million square feet and Disney also wants to build another 1.4 million square feet.

The problem, officials say, is soothing residents’ concerns while accommodating the city’s longstanding institutions, the entertainment industry.

“Who really gets the short end of this are the speculative office builders,” Ovrom said. “We want to make sure the studios’ needs are met, which does not leave a whole lot of room for office developers.”

It was speculative office development that led to current concerns. A master plan was ordered three years ago when city planners feared that the district was in danger of being choked with tall office buildings. Previous City Councils encouraged building without analyzing the long-term consequences, officials have said.

In addition to the 32-story Geiger building, office buildings measuring 20 stories, 14 stories and 13 stories have been built in the district. Two office towers, one 23 stories and one 16 stories, are proposed for a triangular parcel bounded by Olive Avenue, California Street and the Ventura Freeway.

Studio Strategy

Studio executives appear reluctant to discuss their strategies for the upcoming City Council hearings. “There are things we support and things we object to,” said Alan Epstein, vice president of development for Disney Studios. “We just want to go forward and get the council to see our viewpoint.”

Residents in the area are not as shy about expressing their views on development. “I sit by my pool and look up at that Geiger Tower and I don’t feel very good,” said Marji Brannan, who has lived in the area for 13 years. “The residents couldn’t do anything about it or protest it. It was set in concrete, no pun intended.”

Another resident, Lillian Mac- Keller, who works as a health consultant, said she was also distressed by the development. “It’s devastating when it’s three o’clock in the afternoon and the sun goes behind the buildings, cutting out the sunlight,” she said.

Larry Kosmont, a development consultant and the city’s former community development director, said that while it is important for the city to attempt to accommodate the studios, other developers should not be left out. He said too much of the available property might go to the studios.

“Burbank needs to give other property owners reasonable density,” Kosmont said. “It would be a mistake to just have activities associated with the media. It’s important to have a diversified economic base.”