Studio Heeds Foes of Expansion Plan : Media: Warner Bros. unveils list of compromises in bid to win approval of 3-million-square-foot project.

BURBANK — Dozens of residents fearing congestion and noise from Warner Bros.’ 20-year expansion plan have won concessions by the studio and the partial support of the Burbank Planning Board.

During a six-hour meeting Monday, the board listened as speakers protested planned parking structures on California Street and Franklin Avenue, a proposed access gate on Pass Avenue for the ranch lot and a Ventura Freeway on-ramp at Pass Avenue.

“Public input is very important,” said board Chairwoman Carolyn Berlin. “Especially when it comes from people who have to live with the project on a day-to-day basis.”

The proposal by Warner Bros.-- which plans to expand its two major lots, the main lot and the ranch Lot, by a total of 3.3 million square feet over the next 20 years--is expected to be presented to the Burbank City Council for final action Sept. 26.

At a meeting last week, so many residents wanted to be heard on the proposal that the board was forced to schedule another session Monday.

Burbank resident Roland Barrow, who lives near the ranch lot, said the studio did not consider the traffic impact a Pass Avenue gate would have on nearby neighbors who already feel the area is too congested.

“Basically, the gate will cause tremendous traffic jams on Pass Avenue,” Barrow said. “It has been a danger zone for a number of years.”

The board recommended to the City Council that the studio eliminate the proposed gate on Pass Avenue and restrict public access to the ranch lot to Hollywood Way.

The board also denied a conditional-use permit that Warner Bros. was seeking separately from the master plan to build a parking structure near California Street. Berlin said the parking garage, which is part of the master plan, should be included in the project’s Environmental Impact Report.

No decision was made on whether to approve the entire master plan, and the marathon meeting was continued until Wednesday at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

“The length of the meetings is long because the project is so massive,” Berlin said.

“We knew there would be a lot of people that would come to speak at the Planning Board meetings,” said Mee Lee, the studio’s director of government affairs. “We expected it to be continued.”

The studio responded to last week’s complaints with a list of compromises that they presented at Monday’s meeting.

They agreed to conduct a noise study on the California Street parking structure, erect a wall between the parking area and a berm, and eliminate some surface parking near the property line nearest to the neighbors.

The studio also pledged to support any effort by its neighbors to limit nearby street parking to residents of the area.