Unofficial development plan for Pickwick Gardens alarms Rancho residents

It has been almost a year since officials with Pickwick Gardens in Burbank announced they were starting to plan a strategy to meet with residents in the adjacent Rancho District, where several horse owners live, to determine what should be done with the longtime facility that has had difficulty keeping its head above water in recent years.

Though there have been smaller meetings held by Ron Stavert, president and chief executive of Pickwick, and Shea Properties, the development company working with Stavert in the redevelopment, many residents were taken aback on Sept. 14.

Just over two weeks ago, Stavert and Shea Properties held a community meeting in one of Pickwick’s banquet halls and brought forward to residents a concept in which the roughly 9-acre facility would be demolished and roughly 285 apartments and about 30 townhomes would be built on the site.

Because Pickwick is zoned for commercial/recreation — the only zoning of its kind in Burbank — any project outside of that zoning would require an amendment.

Many residents, including Sidnee Lewis, were not happy with what Stavert and the developer brought forward, saying such a project would increase traffic in their neighborhood, which would not bode well for residents who have horses.

“They should have talked to everyone in the community first for their ideas, which is what we thought that meeting was supposed to be, and instead they presented [their plan] and didn’t give anyone a voice,” Lewis said.

There is already a Change.org petition with almost 13,000 signatures, asking residents to urge the City Council to stop any rezoning of the property.

Stavert said the apartments and townhomes were only a concept plan, and nothing has been submitted to the city for review.

Patrick Prescott, Burbank’s community development director, wrote in an email Tuesday that the city has not received a project application to redevelop Pickwick Gardens. He added that should Stavert and Shea Properties submit their plans, the Community Development Department would start its review process, which would include going through the Rancho Review Board, Planning Board and the City Council.

“I’m not surprised with the feedback,” Stavert said. “The Rancho is a community that is vocal, but there’s a few who are more outspoken than others.”

In addition to potential apartments and townhomes on the Pickwick Gardens site, many residents expressed concerns about the future of Viva Cantina restaurant, which Stavert also owns. Lewis said she and other residents are concerned Stavert could close the restaurant, which hosts about 800 musical performances a year, by December.

“They’re constantly packed every night of the week,” Lewis said.

Stavert said Viva Cantina’s lease will expire in December, but he is planning to talk with management about extending it.

“We’re not shutting down Viva,” Stavert said. “They have a lease like every other establishment, and we’ll look to renew the lease. We’re not shutting anything down. That would be insane to do that.”

Lewis said she would like to see Pickwick remain in its current configuration but with upgraded features and possibly an outside area adapted to have outdoor movie screenings.

In order to get to that point, Lewis said there needs to be a conversation among residents, Stavert and the developer.

“Everyone wants to have open dialogue with the family and the neighborhood and come up with a game plan that satisfies everybody,” Lewis said.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio