Barriers Don’t Stand Test of Time

Burbank has been the target of a well-organized, misleading propaganda campaign by the Toluca Lake Homeowners Assn. to build seven cul-de-sacs on the streets going west from Pass Avenue.

The Toluca Lake section of Burbank is very small. A majority of the members of the homeowners association do not live in Burbank, but in the North Hollywood section of Toluca Lake.

The cul-de-sac proponents seek to install these barriers at the expense of Burbank taxpayers. They want to create a private, gated community at no cost to them and without regard to the adverse effect it will have on the safety of the apartment renters and homeowners who live on or close to Pass Avenue.

The association considers our safety expendable to ensure the comfort and convenience of owners of the half-million-dollar-plus homes west of Rose Street.

My wife and I live on National Avenue, close to Pass Avenue, which was constructed over 50 years ago as a through street, capable of carrying up to 4,000 motor vehicles per day, as are the other streets in our neighborhood. Since placement of the temporary barricades on our streets six months ago, the alleys behind our homes have carried a heavy volume of traffic by motorists avoiding the barriers.

The cul-de-sac supporters have greatly exaggerated the alleged volume of traffic on our neighborhood streets prior to installation of the temporary barricades. To provide safe, efficient traffic flow, Burbank needs the alternative traffic routes to Riverside Drive and Pass Avenue that local streets provide.

At the public hearing on June 6, cul-de-sac proponents sought by shouting and yelling to silence opponents of the cul-de-sacs when the latter addressed the City Council. Mayor Michael Hastings, who conducted the meeting, had to threaten vociferous cul-de-sac supporters with expulsion four times before they remained silent.

The Burbank City Council made the correct decision to remove the temporary street barricades, based on expert opinions of the city staff and testimony at the public hearing. Democracy in action does not require submitting to the wishes of an unruly, ill-informed mob.

ROBERT F. WALSH

Burbank