Burbank Voters Say No to 3 Measures on Growth Control : Elections: The field of 12 City Council candidates narrows to four, who will face off in April.

Burbank voters Tuesday rejected three growth-control initiatives and narrowed a field of 12 candidates for two seats on the City Council to four finalists who will meet in a runoff election in April.

Council incumbents Robert R. Bowne and Mary Lou Howard, and challengers George Battey and Thomas H. McCauley were the four highest vote-getters, but none received the majority vote needed for election.

Bowne ran strongest, with 44% of the 14,913 ballots cast. Battey ran second with 32%, followed by Howard with 30% and McCauley with 18%.

All candidates ran at large for the five-seat council and voters could vote for two.

Voters resoundingly rejected Measure A, which would have imposed severe restrictions on commercial and residential development, with 77% voting against it. Measure B, a less restrictive proposal that would have enacted height limits on commercial buildings, was turned down by 66% of the voters.

Measure C, which would have prohibited the sale or lease of surplus school property to private developers, was voted down by 58%.

Bowne said the results indicate voters want a strong local economy, unfettered by additional growth restrictions. “I think the people see that the council is trying to balance the business needs of Burbank with the residents’ desires to preserve the sanctity of their neighborhoods,” he said.

Political novices who failed in their council bids included Mason L. (Hap) Arnold, a retired Federal Aviation Administration engineer; Jules Kimmett, a school janitor well-known locally for loud attacks on the council at its meetings; Lorraine A. Bellis-Mark, an office manager; Dianne Adams, a businesswoman; Edwin LaRocque, a screenwriter and business consultant; Joel Schlossman, a general contractor; Elisabeth Handler, a businesswoman, and computer engineer Dave Golonski, who wrote Measure A.

The central debate in the primary was over development. Many of the 10 challengers--as well as incumbent Howard--felt that the current council had let high-rise development and large projects, particularly near residential neighborhoods, get out of hand. They said neighborhoods were being increasingly threatened by noise, pollution, traffic and loss of privacy they blamed on development.

But other challengers, and incumbent Bowne, contended that more restrictions on development would harm the city’s economy. They said the council was already balancing the concerns of the residents with the need for new development.

Some of the candidates had also complained that the council had gone out of its way to discourage citizen input. They pointed to the council’s failure to include the public comment period--during which citizens can address the council on any topic--in the weekly cable broadcast of the City Council meetings.

The City Council, along with several major film and television studios headquartered in Burbank, including Warner Bros., Disney and Burbank, had urged voters not to pass the measures. Officials for St. Joseph’s Medical Center and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority also came out against Measures A and B, calling them too restrictive.

Several of the council and school board candidates had also opposed the measures.

Supporters of the measures called them the only way to protect neighborhoods being overrun by development. They said the city’s leadership had placed the interests of developers and large property owners over the concerns of residents who want to preserve the quiet neighborhood atmosphere of Burbank communities.

But opponents called the measures unneeded and financially devastating to the city’s tax base. They said the city was already effectively controlling development.

Measure A would have placed “reasonable annual limits” on the development of major commercial projects and the construction of multiple-unit residential buildings. It would have forbidden the building of more than 250 residential units or more than 350,000 square feet of commercial or industrial floor area per year.

It would also have limited the construction of high-rise non-residential buildings, and prohibited new ones in areas near residential neighborhoods.

Measure B was not as restrictive as Measure A, and did not call for specific caps on development. It also called for limits only on commercial building, not residential. It would have limited the height of most new buildings at three stories. There would have been a five-story limit on new commercial buildings near residential neighborhoods, and a 10-story restriction on buildings near downtown.

Measure C would have forbidden the sale or lease of public school sites, surplus school property or public parkland to any buyer or tenant but the city of Burbank. The city, in turn, could have used those properties only for public parks, recreational facilities or as a land reserve for future school expansion.

ELECTION RESULTS

BURBANK

Candidates must receive 50% of the vote plus one to be elected. Those elected outright are in bold type; candidates who will face a runoff election April 9 are in italic type. Unofficial results are:

46 of 46 precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Vote % Robert R. Bowne* 6,506 44 George Battey 4,758 32 Mary Lou Howard* 4,544 30 Thomas H. McCauley 2,681 18 Dave Golonski 2,560 17 Elisabeth Handler 1,364 9 Jules Kimmett 974 7 Dianne Adams 941 6 Edwin LaRocque 887 6 Mason L. (Hap) Arnold 701 5 Lorraine A. Bellis-Mark 668 4 Joel Schlossman 630 4

* Incumbent

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Three vacancies

Vote % Bob Dunivant 7,878 53 William (Bill) Abbey* 6,593 44 Elena Hubbell 6,545 44 S. Michael 4,997 34 Stavropoulos Joe Hooven 3,805 26 Lee Paysinger 2,897 19 Edgar A. Deeter 1,154 8 Ronald B. Cwik 693 5

BALLOT MEASURES

Simple majority vote required.

MEASURE A: Would place annual limits on the development of major commercial projects and the construction of multiple-unit residential buildings.

Vote % No 11,465 77 Yes 2,947 23

MEASURE B: Would place limits on commercial building, not residential. Puts a height limit on new buildings.

Vote % No 9,869 66 Yes 4,624 34

MEASURE C: Would prohibit the sale or lease of public school sites, surplus school property or public parkland to anyone other than the city of Burbank.

Vote % No 8,625 58 Yes 5,648 42