Growth-Control Plan for Media District Approved : Burbank: Officials work late into the night to hammer out an ordinance that would be one of the most restrictive in the state.

The Burbank City Council on Tuesday approved a sweeping growth-control plan for the city’s Media District that council members said would help protect residential neighborhoods from increasing growth generated by industries in the district.

The plan, which was designed to strike a compromise between residents and the television and movie studios headquartered in the district, was approved unanimously. It marked the culmination of six years of debate and study over the future of the 1.2-square-mile zone.

“It’s not perfect, but nothing’s perfect,” Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard said. “This is not as strict as some would have liked, but it does do what we attempted to do in the first place. Things had really gotten out of hand for awhile,” she said of development.

The measure approved imposes some of the most restrictive limits in the state, if not the country.

The debate matched neighborhood preservationists against developers who complained that the plan robs them of the right to use their property.

The early portion of the debate centered on a controversial provision that would allow construction of a project higher than the generally allowed 15-story limit. The plan stipulates that a developer might be able to build 18 stories if special amenities, such as parking and open space, were included in the project.

The vote came around midnight.

At issue is the future of an area in southwestern Burbank dominated by motion picture and television studios. The Media District is bordered roughly by the Ventura Freeway, Oak and Keystone streets and Clybourne Avenue, and is a popular business center where one of every five Burbank residents works.

The plan has been the subject of debate for more than six years between property owners and residents who complain that their neighborhoods have been overwhelmed by noise and traffic from developments approved in the past.

City officials say the plan is intended to find the middle ground and slow down building in the area. City Manager Bud Ovrom has said the plan may be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the state, if not the nation.

If no restrictions were imposed, developers would build an additional 30 million to 50 million square feet worth of commercial and industrial projects, officials have forecasted. But under the plan, future development in the area will be limited to an additional 16.8 million square feet total.

Developers would be allowed to build only about one square foot of floor area for every square foot of property. For instance, a developer would only be allowed to build a two-story building on half a lot, or a three-story building on one third of a lot.

“Stairstep” limits would also be placed on the height of buildings near single-family residential neighborhoods. For instance, a building within 50 feet of a single-family residential lot could not be more than 25 feet in height. A building within 150 feet of a single-family residential lot could not exceed 35 feet in height, or roughly three stories.

In addition, a maximum height limit of 15 stories would be imposed on most new buildings. Taller buildings would have to be approved under a conditional use permit, which would require public hearings before the planning board and the City Council. Developers who want to exceed the limit of 15 stories would have to provide “super-enhancement” qualities such as open space, increased parking and day-care centers.

Studios such as Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures and Walt Disney have expressed an interest in expanding their current operations and city officials are eager to maintain a good relationship with these important business interests.

Even though all of the studios have said they would like to expand their facilities, studio executives in the last several months have indicated that they are willing to forgo millions of dollars in construction in order to avoid public resentment.