Panel Rules Against Storage Truck Rental

In the second such action in less than a month, the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday upheld an appeal by the Tarzana Property Owners Assn. that requires Public Storage Inc. to stop renting moving trucks from a Burbank Boulevard self-storage facility.

The decision was the latest setback for the company, which in September was prohibited by the board from renting trucks at a proposed facility on the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Vanalden Avenue.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council approved a motion by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski instructing the Planning and Land Use Management Committee to draft an ordinance making it more difficult to construct self-storage businesses in commercial areas.

“Storage buildings and rental lots are often bulky and large and out of scale with adjacent commercial development, and can constitute an eyesore for adjacent residential neighborhoods,” Miscikowski’s motion reads.

Although too late to impact the Ventura Boulevard facility, the motion stemmed directly from that case. The proposed 40,000-square-foot storage building has drawn vocal opposition from the homeowners group and others who believe the project is unsuitable for the neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the board overturned an earlier decision that would have allowed Public Storage to rent trucks from an existing facility at 18440 Burbank Blvd.

Officials had previously acknowledged that, despite original conditions prohibiting truck rentals from the facility, which was built by another company and later purchased by Public Storage, trucks were being rented from the location.

“They were violating the conditions of the original zone variance,” said Kathy Della Donne, a member of the property owners group.

“We’re glad now that the board has made it clear that Public Storage must be a good neighbor if it wants to come into Tarzana,” Della Donne said.