New parking approved for Magnolia Park

Paul Clinton

MAGNOLIA PARK -- The final stage of street improvements to Magnolia

Park got the approval of the City Council Tuesday in a move one merchant

said was a long time coming.

“They’ve promised it for years,” said Mary Christensen, the owner of

Bell Cottage on Magnolia Boulevard. “It’s about time they did it.”

With a unanimous vote, the council agreed to move forward Tuesday with

plans to install a 17-space parking lot at the corner of Magnolia

Boulevard and Kenwood Street.

The lot will add much-needed spaces to an area fraught with parking

problems, said Redevelopment Project Manager Bill Emmett.

“The big issue is parking,” Emmett said. “So we wanted to do as much

as we could.”

The lot will complete approximately $1.3 million in work to “spruce

up” the district, Emmett said.

The city has also put in angled parking on Cordova, Avon and Lima

streets, which added nine additional spaces. Decorative sidewalks and

landscaping were also installed along the two blocks of Magnolia

Boulevard east of Hollywood Way.

The property where the lot will be built is currently owned by the Los

Angeles Department of Water and Power. Burbank will pay the Los Angeles

utility $33,000 to lease the land for 10 years. Construction on the lot,

which is situated under power lines, is scheduled to begin in early next

year.

Residents and merchants in the district, which is mostly comprised of

small businesses such as antique shops and recording studios, have long

complained that the city has ignored Magnolia Park to fund improvements

in Burbank Village and other areas of the city.