Burbank Considers New Zoning to Spur Growth

The Burbank City Council, worried about loss of tax revenue and jobs, is considering a proposal to encourage apartment construction by relaxing zoning codes, which would gut parts of a 1989 slow-growth measure approved by nearly 75% of voters.

The proposal, which was discussed Tuesday night, consists of eight recommendations from a city-sponsored committee of developers and includes reduced requirements for parking and open space around new apartment complexes.

The developers’ package of proposals is designed to reduce the cost of new construction and spur new growth. Apartment construction in Burbank, which reached more than 500 dwellings a year in the mid-1980s, has plummeted in recent years to nearly zero, city officials said.

The Burbank Planning Board has already rejected six of the eight recommendations and modified one other in September. The only recommendation the Planning Board approved intact would allow a developer more flexibility in satisfying city requirements for open space. The board then sent the package to the City Council for consideration.

But several council members responded favorably to the entire developer package at Tuesday night’s meeting. Nearly all of the recommendations would allow developers to fit more apartments into a given amount of space.

The developers’ proposals would also change the direction of city planning established by voters in 1989 through Measure 1. Although the initiative did not numerically restrict the number of new apartment units, it ordered the city planning staff to draw up stricter zoning requirements, which were later approved by the council. The Measure 1 zoning provisions can be altered or scrapped by a majority vote of the council.

“A lot of things have changed since Measure 1 was passed,” said Mayor Robert Bowne, who added that the developers’ package “has some merit” and could be implemented citywide.

But other council members said the relaxed guidelines proposed by developers should be adopted only if they agree to build more apartments targeted to low-income residents. Existing codes should remain in effect for housing that is built to be rented at market rates, the council members said.

Councilman George Battey said that regardless of neighborhood opposition, the city needs to add more low-income housing in coming years to comply with state law. He said that higher density in housing was inevitable.

“People don’t like to talk about increased density,” Battey said. But “the increase in population is a fact of life.”

Councilman Michael Hastings suggested that the developer proposals be used as an incentive for rebuilding blighted, high-crime neighborhoods, such as Elmwood Avenue and Lake Street, which has been the center of gang activity in Burbank.

“I think the majority of people in the city of Burbank want to see certain areas cleaned up,” Hastings said.

Several neighborhood activists complained to the council that the developer package would “take the codes back to the Stone Age” and cause the city to be overwhelmed by cheap apartment buildings.

“They will become slum apartments as soon as they’re put up,” Barbara Briel said.

Although council members could not agree on the specifics Tuesday, it appears the council is willing to reconsider the Measure 1 ordinances.

“It was a typical government overreaction,” Councilman Tom Flavin said. “I supported Measure 1 at the time, but in retrospect it appears to have been a mistake. It has added many local disincentives to property owners, especially small property owners.”

NEXT STEP

The Burbank City Council and Burbank Planning Board will hold a joint session Dec. 15 to study housing issues, with special emphasis on new laws requiring communities to encourage low-income housing. On Dec. 22, the City Council will reconsider a package of proposals to ease restrictions on the construction of apartments. Once drafted as an ordinance, the proposals would go to the Planning Board and the City Council for approval.