City to conduct community ‘walk-shops’ this month

On a walk through a Magnolia Park neighborhood on a blustery afternoon this week, city officials snapped smartphone photos and discussed design elements of various homes they felt were characteristic of Burbank.

“Not everything’s going to be cookie-cutter,” said Kendall Flint, a consultant the city hired last year to help in its effort to revise development standards and create a proposed set of design guidelines intended to combat the construction of overly-large homes, which critics call “McMansions,” and other projects that organized community groups have said ruin the city’s charm and property values.

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Flint led community development staff and Planning Board members — Chairman Christopher Rizzotti, Vice-chairwoman Kimberly Jo and member Undine Petrulis — on a quick wind-blown circuit of Lima, Clark and California streets south of Magnolia Boulevard as a dry-run of upcoming community “walk-shops” the city will conduct in five Burbank neighborhoods on Saturdays this month, beginning this week.

Officials hope the walking workshops will allow local residents to help give them a “sense” of what homes, yards and design features they feel are most fitting for Burbank.

“It’s important that residents have an opportunity to tell us what makes their neighborhoods unique and identify those characteristics they want to preserve,” said Carol Barrett, the city’s assistant director of community development, in a statement announcing the walk-shops.

Last spring, the city instituted temporary building restrictions on residential projects in the city through March 2017, while the city and architectural consultants work out new permanent standards, in response to outcry from community members about massive new homes that they said were out of character with surrounding neighborhoods.

Planning Board member Jo pointed out a home that was much larger than it first appeared from the street, but which had disguised its mass with design features.

Barrett said she felt it was an example that what may matter about a project is not just the mass of the resulting home, but its design elements as well.

The city-led walking tours, slated for Magnolia Park, two hillside neighborhoods, the Rancho and a neighborhood near the airport, are aided by an online survey that will allow participants to upload photos they take with their smartphones — or devices provided by the city — depicting a few examples of homes and design features they prefer and a few they dislike.

Two walk-shops are set for this Saturday, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Mountain View Park, 751 S. Griffith Park Drive, with three set for Feb. 20. A full schedule and more information is available on the city’s website at bit.ly/1Qb0WZq.

Residents who cannot participate in one of the walk-shops can complete the online survey on their own in a neighborhood of their choosing by visiting bit.ly/1X1LBzx.

Flint said a smartphone app called “OurBurbank,” which will let residents submit “city selfies” and photos of the homes and design features they like, is also almost ready to launch on Android and Apple app stores. Through the app, users will be able to view a gallery of other preferred homes submitted by their neighbors.

The disliked homes or features will not be made public through the app or website, Flint said, so as not to “shame” any homeowners.

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Chad Garland, chad.garland@latimes.com

Twitter: @chadgarland