Burbank Wonders If Disney Holds a Happy Ending for City’s Woes

The name Walt Disney is synonymous with happy endings.

Politicians and community leaders are now pondering whether a proposed $600-million expansion of the Walt Disney Co. will bring a happy new beginning to economically troubled Burbank.

Initial reaction to the proposal, which was unveiled last week by Disney executives, was generally positive.

But Disney officials are taking no chances. They are holding several forums--the first Monday night--on their expansion plans in order to avoid the public relations disaster they encountered in Long Beach recently. There, their proposed $3-billion waterfront plan drew loud protests from local residents.

Some officials and neighborhood leaders said the Disney expansion may give a much-needed economic boost to a city that has been shaken by the departure of several major industries and the loss this year of an estimated 10,000 jobs.

City officials, including Mayor Michael Hastings, said the project could prove to be “a tremendous spark for Burbank. It looks very upbeat and could be a good indication to businesses all over that Burbank is a good place to grow.”

Alan Epstein, vice president of Disney Development Co., said the expansion, which would all be on the studio’s 44-acre lot, could result in thousands of new jobs.

Despite that, some residents wondered whether the benefits of the Disney project could be offset by resulting congestion and noise for surrounding neighborhoods that have struggled for years to fight off the effects of increased development around the city.

Brad Howard, a neighborhood activist who lives in the Toluca Lake area near the studio, said the project should not be allowed because city officials have not kept their promise to protect that neighborhood from traffic caused by what they say is present overdevelopment. He said measures such as permanent cul-de-sacs have been indefinitely delayed.

“I don’t want to see anything built until the city does what they said they would do,” Howard said. “Everything should be put on ice.”

Other homeowner leaders said that the Disney expansion seemed at first glance like a positive addition to the area, but that they would have to examine it more closely before endorsing the plan.

The Disney proposal includes four to six sound stages, an employee center, a casting building, production facilities and a creative arts center. Epstein said the studio was in desperate need of new production facilities because of its increased output of films and television programs.

If approved, a variety of transportation plans, including car pools, van pools and shuttle buses, would be established, executives said. Among proposed traffic improvements are the addition of signals and left and right turn lanes, and the widening of the westbound Ventura Freeway off-ramp at Riverside Drive and Buena Vista Street.

Landscaping and other buffers would help shield the lot and the expansion from surrounding streets.

The Disney complex--bounded by the Ventura Freeway, Buena Vista Street, Alameda Avenue and Keystone Street--is in the Media District, an area where several other major studios, including Warner Bros. and NBC, are headquartered.

The studio is also near the Rancho district, a neighborhood dominated by homes where residents can keep horses.

Dennis Jackson, president of the Rancho Homeowners Assn. Inc., said his “gut reaction” to the project was that Disney had addressed several concerns expressed in previous city-sponsored meetings on future development.

“It seems that if there are other legitimate concerns, that Disney will react,” he said. “But we really haven’t examined it in detail. We want to hold off on any positive or negative reaction.”

Carolyn Berlin, co-author of a planned growth measure that was defeated by voters after opposition from Disney and other studios this year, said she was also uncertain about the plan.

“With that much addition of office space, I think it will be difficult until people are given specific directives on how to get in and out of the area,” she said. “I’m hoping they have ways to divert traffic away from the neighborhoods so that the quality of life is not eroded more than it’s already been.”

While stopping short of an outright endorsement of the plan, Burbank officials see the Disney expansion as a positive step for their city.

The opening this year of an indoor mall in downtown Burbank and the prospect of another $100-million mall has not taken away the pain of the departure of several large employers such as Lockheed Aerospace Corp., Weber Aircraft, Zero Corp. and several smaller companies, officials said.

Around 10,000 jobs were lost in Burbank this year, said City Manager Bud Ovrom.

“It’s been hurtful to a lot of families,” Ovrom said. “It’s hard to live in Burbank and not have a friend or a neighbor who is unemployed.”

Epstein said the proposed Disney expansion would greatly help Burbank economically. In addition to providing more jobs, he said the expansion would help support other area businesses and would increase the city’s tax base.

Councilman Tom Flavin said he supported the proposal.

“In these difficult economic times, it’s good to see someone who wants to make a $600-million investment in the community,” Flavin said.

He said the project could help transform Burbank from a city with a manufacturing and industrial base to one with a media, retail and high-tech base.

Ovrom said he agreed. “With the loss of the aerospace industry, the studios are our biggest remaining strength,” he said.

One factor to be studied in the consideration of the plan is whether the expansion conforms to a sweeping growth-control plan for the area adopted by the council last year. The Media District Specific Plan drastically restricts development in the area in order to protect residential neighborhoods from increasing growth generated by industries in the district.

Epstein said the expansion conforms to the city ordinance, and city officials said it appeared that the Disney proposal met the requirements of the growth-control plan.

“If it does conform to the plan, then it will be a $600-million infusion into our economy that we desperately need,” Ovrom said.