Residents voice concerns on Talaria project at last meeting before Council review

About three dozen community members gathered at the Buena Vista Library on Thursday for the city’s last community meeting on the proposed Talaria at Burbank development before the Burbank City Council considers the project — a 241-unit luxury apartment complex on top of a Whole Foods market — next month.

Traffic impacts in adjacent neighborhoods was the top concern, with some residents asking the city to explore constructing cul-de-sacs where Alameda Avenue hits Avon, Lima and California streets, and just north of Alameda on Cordova Street.

Among them was Carlos Alazraqui, who also voiced concern about walkability through the neighborhoods, since he envisions himself walking to shop at Whole Foods.

Alazraqui also asked the city to look into requiring parking permits in the adjacent neighborhoods, worrying about parking spillover into his residential neighborhood.

The developer, the Cusumano Real Estate Group, has committed to paying $150,000 toward neighborhood improvements beyond what’s required as part of the project, though the funds aren’t tied yet to any specific projects, according to David Kriske, deputy city planner for transportation.

The project does, however, include improvements to nearby intersections and signalized crosswalks. With the mitigation measures, city officials said the project won’t cause significant traffic impacts, which are triggered when traffic is expected to increase by a certain percentage based on the road’s average daily trips.

City officials plan to explore installing K-rails, or temporary barriers, to investigate the traffic impacts cul-de-sacs would have on the area as there’s potential for traffic to bottleneck on neighboring streets.

“We can very easily do a before-and-after study to see what happens,” Kriske said.

Others at the meeting questioned the need for the complex and grocery store, while noting that 41 semi-affordable apartment units will be torn down to accommodate the project.

“Any city needs pockets like that, where people of limited needs can live,” said Burbank resident Jim Lane, adding that he found it offensive when people called the property — which currently houses the apartments, two single-family homes, a church, a bar and three office buildings — underutilized. “That’s part of our community and we’re going to lose that.”

Realtors in attendance, however, as well as city officials, noted a shortage of apartment units citywide. City Manager Mark Scott, who lives near City Hall, noted that he himself was having trouble finding a place to rent in that area of Burbank.

“The vacancy rate is very, very low,” Kriske said.

The Burbank City Council is slated to review the project on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.