BURBANK : Funding Cut for Downtown District

The City Council has cut by nearly half a funding request from a group of businessmen and property owners needed to plan a business improvement district for downtown Burbank.

The council agreed to spend $20,000 to fund the Downtown Burbank Stakeholders Assn. for three months, instead of the $38,000 that had been requested. The group said the original request would have kept it going for five months, but that plans for the improvement district could be completed within the shorter time.

“We do hope to have the district finished by then,” said Gwen Pentecost, the executive director. Pentecost said that in the next few months the group will develop a way for businesses and property owners to pay for improvements such as promotions, parking management and better maintenance to attract new customers to the area.

In other business Tuesday, the City Council named nine people to a Burbank Center Planning Area Citizen’s Advisory Committee. The committee was supposed to have had 36 members, but the city did not get enough applications.

Also, before its holiday break, the City Council promised $23 million to help rebuild public schools, on the condition that voters approve a $100-million bond referendum to be placed on the ballot in April.