Letter: Neighbors’ work was mischaracterized

Re: “Burbank town hall covers group homes, pot holes and other resident concerns,” March 8. The reporter chose to describe residents’ concerns as “griping.” I was there as part of a grass-roots group called Save Burbank Neighborhoods. The countless hours invested by my neighbors in preserving the character of Burbank neighborhoods is staggering. The issue that drew us to the meeting was the current housing element debacle.

After January’s City Council vote, any group home, including sober living and parolee/probation boarding homes, are allowed to move into single family R1 neighborhoods. These for-profit businesses, which are allowed to have up to six residents and an additional six caretakers, are not required to secure a city permit or license. This has the potential to drastically alter the character of any street in Burbank (imagine 12 vehicles parked at your neighbors’ house).

Whether or not you feel this issue is pertinent, please do not dismiss the tireless efforts of people who already have very busy lives, and out of concern for their family’s safety, find themselves making and passing out fliers, knocking on doors, gathering signatures, and researching information that should have been disclosed to all the citizens of Burbank before the January vote. If an unlicensed home for six recently released convicts opened up next door, you might have wished your neighbors would have “griped” sooner.

Roy Wiegand
Burbank