Burbank OKs Warner Bros. Expansion : Entertainment: Studio’s $800-million development will triple its local employment and cement the industry’s growing role in the Valley’s economy.

In a move likely to sustain entertainment’s position as the fastest growing industry in the San Fernando Valley, the Burbank City Council voted unanimously Thursday to let Warner Bros. Studios proceed with a major expansion that will triple its local employment, add 3.3 million square feet of building space and cost $800 million.

The expansion, scheduled to begin before the end of the year and then continue in stages through 2015, calls for the construction of new sound stages, office buildings and parking structures on the company’s two lots in Burbank.

“This is exactly what we need right now,” said John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center that uses governmental grants to bolster local businesses.

He noted that in the wake of natural disasters and the demise of the aerospace and automobile industries in the area, the relative success of the entertainment industry has proved to be a “savior” to the Valley.

“If it weren’t for the entertainment industry’s growth, the Valley would have been in very, very bad shape,” Rooney said. “Now this move by Warner Bros. is going to bring us a lot of new jobs.”

The chief economist of the county Economic Development Corp., Jack Kyser, heartily agreed, pointing out that this year alone, 29,000 new entertainment-related jobs were created statewide, with the majority of them in Los Angeles County.

“This is not chopped liver,” Kyser said of Warner’s plans. “It’s caviar.”

Warner Bros. officials say that when the project is done, its labor force will grow from the current 5,130 to about 14,000.

Burbank officials were especially delighted, even though numerous residents had spoken out against the expansion in recent weeks because of the increased traffic, noise and pollution that would come to the city along with the massive construction projects.

“I think Burbank now has retained its undisputed position of media capital of the world,” Burbank Vice Mayor Susan E. Spanos said Thursday morning. “And it couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

Just five years ago the city was reeling from the departure of aerospace giant Lockheed.

“Nobody dreamed Lockheed would leave Burbank, but they did,” Spanos said. “We cannot take the economic base of our city for granted.”

Zoe Taylor, president of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, agreed that the expansion approval was a coup. She noted that the studio has been a Burbank fixture for more than six decades.

“Other communities would just die to get them in their cities,” Taylor said.

The entertainment industry is not the biggest in the Valley--that position goes to professional services, which employ 22% of the work force, according to a 1993 study by the Valley Economic Development Center. But the study also showed that the entertainment industry had increased its number of employees by 61% in six years, far outpacing other Valley industries.

In addition to its movie division, the studio houses other operations in Burbank, including its television, home video, music, interactive games and theme parks divisions.

“Warner Bros. is one of the largest economic drivers in the San Fernando Valley already,” Rooney said. “Currently, they spend $587 million annually just in the Valley. That will only go up.”

The studio’s parent company, Time Warner, last week announced a $7.4-billion merger with Turner Broadcasting System. If the merger is approved by government agencies, it will be the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world.

Rob Friedman, president of Warner Bros. advertising and publicity, said he believes the merger will not affect the studio’s expansion. “As of right now the master plan has been submitted and we don’t foresee any change,” he said.

The expansion plan approval marks the latest victory for Burbank-based entertainment companies. This summer, the Walt Disney Co. purchased Capitol Cities/ABC for $19 billion, bringing the control of the top-rated television network to the city. And in the last two years, Warner Bros. and Disney have each added about a half-million square feet in office space, and Disney built a new animation center.

“Even small businesses in Burbank all seem to now be in the movie business,” Rooney said. “You go to some engineer firm, and it turns out that what they do is special effects. You look up a rental supply house, and they specialize in leasing vehicles to the movies.”

But the expansion was not welcomed by the 80 residents who lined up to speak at the City Council meeting that began Wednesday night and did not end with the vote until after midnight.

Some residents complained that the expansion would mean they would be living next door to a 20-year construction project.

“We are not NIMBYs,” H.L. Chambers, president of the Woodland-Jacaranda Homeowners Assn., told the council, referring to the acronym for Not In My Back Yard. “The project is already in our back yard. But we are talking about permanently raising the noise level a full decibel in the area and adding an extra 14,000 car trips a day.”

The council did eliminate from the project two of the most controversial parts of the plan--a proposed Pass Avenue gate to the ranch lot and an on-ramp to the Ventura Freeway.

Just before the meeting, Warner Bros. executives faxed a memo to the city stating that they were willing to have both items eliminated because of the public outcry.

“We were close enough to make the concessions,” said Dan Garcia, vice president of Warner Bros. real estate and public affairs. “We are at a moment in time where we had to do what we could.”

The first phase of the expansion will begin with the construction of one of four parking structures, studio officials say. That phase, scheduled to be completed in 2000, will also include the building of two 15-story office towers and two other five-story office buildings.

The second phase includes construction of two additional 15-story office towers, a 12-story building, six more five-story offices and more parking structures.

Times staff writer Patrice Apodaca also contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Lot Expansion

Warner Bros. plans to spend $800 million improving its two lots in Burbank over the next 20 years. More than 3.3 million square feet of building space is planned. Employment will rise from 5,130 to 14,000, according to the studio, which won approval for the project from the Burbank City Council on Thursday. Here are the proposed additions:

Ranch Lot: Originally establisheds by Columbia Pictures for outdoor shooting, this 30-acre lot is 175,000 square feet and contains 37 buildings.

Main Lot: This 106-acre lot contains 160 buildings on 2.3 million square feet. The structures were built in the 1920s and 1930s. There are 4,400 parking spaces on the lot, 2,400 off-site.

Sources: City of Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios