Burbank Votes to Streamline City Building Permit Process

Despite the objections of homeowner groups, the Burbank City Council has adopted a plan to lure new developments to the recession-battered city by speeding up the approval of building permits.

The ordinance, approved 4 to 1 without debate late Tuesday, exempts small and medium-sized projects that are consistent with the zoning code from discretionary review by the council and the city’s Planning Board. The ordinance also eliminates environmental review and appeals procedures for residential projects with less than 500 units and commercial developments with fewer than 1,000 employees, provided the projects are in compliance with zoning codes.

The new ordinance cuts the approval process from an average of more than three months to about a month, planners said.

“We have to do these things to remain competitive” with other cities for development, said Councilman Michael R. Hastings, echoing comments of other council supporters. “If you don’t have revenues coming in, then you don’t have revenues going out.”

The new process only permits appeals if residents claim that a project violates the city’s zoning code, city planners said. Developers have said many appeals are frivolous and environmental reviews are unnecessary.

The new ordinance would not affect projects that require zoning changes.

The council’s action follows a drastic drop in the number of new residential and commercial projects in the past three years. Since 1990, the city has also lost about 12,000 jobs, including many in the aerospace industry.

Representatives of several homeowner groups said the ordinance will result in poor planning because city staff members will review each individual project but will not consider the total effect of several new developments in a neighborhood.

The ordinance “basically robs you and the Planning Board of the ability . . . to decide the compatibility of projects,” said Mary O’Hare, who represented the Toluca Lake Homeowners Assn.

“Changing the appeal process in Burbank is not, on its own, going to end the effects of national recession here,” Ted McConkey, president of the Rancho Homeowners Assn., said before the vote. “You can’t say the appeals have been frivolous. These appeals have led to changes in zoning laws.”

Timothy M. Murphy, the only opponent of the ordinance on the council, predicted after the vote that there would be a public outcry once residents realize the city has ceded its decision-making power to developers.

“Everyone knows the economy is in the toilet, but this goes too far,” Murphy said. “The concept is good, but the implementation of it is scary.”

Murphy also said the new ordinance has given an unfair advantage to developers who can afford attorneys.

“This whole process in effect cuts out the little guy,” Murphy said. “It basically totally puts you at the mercy of government. . . . That’s not the American way.”

BACKGROUND

The Burbank City Council and city planners decided to speed up the city permit-approval process because of a recession that has crippled local developers. The pace of residential development in Burbank has plummeted in recent years. Before 1990, an average of 1,000 dwelling units a year were being built. But in the past two years, that has fallen to 31 units per year, according to Burbank City Planner Rick Pruetz. Commercial development has also dropped dramatically.