News and Events
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» Whitnall Highway Pipeline Project EIR
» Municipal Code renumbering
» View protection update
» Alameda North Neighborhood Protection
Program information
» Pollywog Pond Soil Report
» Rancho zoning information
» Lockheed Vapor Extraction System (VES) reports
» Airport Development Agreement and News
The brand new Community Services Building is complete! Along with several other City departments and divisions, the Planning office has moved to the new building. The Planning office is now located in the new building located at 150 N. Third Street at the corner of Third and Orange Grove.
Effective Tuesday, July 29 the Planning Counter is located in the Permit Center on the first floor of the new Community Services Building at 150 N. Third Street. In conjunction with the move to the new building, Planning Counter hours have been expanded to 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. This provides two additional hours of counter time each day to better serve the public.
Alameda North Neighborhood Protection Program
On February 7, 2007 the City of Burbank conducted a community meeting to discuss traffic and parking problems in the Alameda North portion of the Media District.
In 2003, the City Council directed staff to create a Neighborhood Protection Program (NPP) for the area north of Alameda and Olive and south of Oak, between Hollywood Way and Buena Vista. The Council was concerned about existing parking problems and cut-through traffic experienced by the residents. For about 1½ years, the City held meetings with the neighborhood to come up with a plan to alleviate some of the problems. Ultimately, a survey was sent to neighbors to vote on the measures they did and did not want implemented, and a recommendation for the first phase of improvements was proposed. In May 2005, City Council approved implementing the first phase of this plan. Most measures were implemented before the end of the year in 2005.
» original Neighborhood Protection Plan
» staff report describing Neighborhood Protection Plan
» February 7 meeting noticeThe Council asked staff to follow up with the neighbors after the first phase had been implemented and prior to beginning a second phase. One of the Council's main concerns was that some of the improvements proposed would also affect neighbors north of Oak Street and therefore Council asked staff to include these neighbors in subsequent discussions. Another concern was how certain improvements would affect streets differently and therefore any second phase would have to look carefully at the whole neighborhood.
The purpose of the February 7 meeting is to find out how the first phase is working, what problems still exist, and to discuss options for a second phase. This will be an informational meeting for residents who were not involved during the first NPP sessions, and will also be an opportunity to gather more information from the residents to focus options for a second phase.
Ultimately, a community recommendation will be made to the City Council on which measures to implement as part of the second phase.
For further information about the Alameda North NPP, please contact Joy Forbes at (818) 238-5250 or jforbes@ci.burbank.ca.us.
Pollywog Pond/Park Soil Report
In October 2006, the State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) issued a report of soil testing it conducted on the "Pollywog Pond/Park" site. The site is located south of Riverside Drive, generally between Keystone Street and Reese Place. The soil was tested for the presence of chromium (VI) and other metals.
DTSC concluded that the level of chromium (VI) "in all the samples was well below the State of California's Human-Exposure-Based Screening Numbers (17,000 ppb), and US EPA's Preliminary Remediation Goal levels (30,000 ug/kg) for a residential scenario." DTSC further concluded that "lead and arsenic were also within background levels." DTSC determined that "all the samples...are below levels of concern." Documents related to DTSC's study are available for download below:
» City Attorney's Office cover memo to City Council
» DTSC Soil Report
» Report Table 1
» Report Figures
» Appendix A: Laboratory Data
» Appendix B: Risk Screening InformationIn response to questions raised by City Council members regarding the above report, the City Attorney's office prepared a follow-up memo including maps of soil contamination in the Burbank area.
» City Attorney's Office memo to City Council dated December 13, 2006
» Exhibit maps
On June 26, 2007, the City Council directed staff to proceed with preparation of an ordinance to establish a view restoration process for views obstructed by vegetation in the hillside area as "phase 2" of the view protection ordinance. As directed by the Council, the second phase will include the following components:
creation of a mediation process to resolve disputes between private property owners for view-blocking trees and other vegetation located on private property
creation of an application and appeals process for property owners to request trimming or removal of view-blocking City-owned trees located on public property
Once a draft ordinance is prepared, one or more additional community meetings will be held with hillside residents to seek input on the proposed ordinance. The ordinance must be reviewed by the Planning Board and adopted by the City Council following noticed public hearings before taking effect.
The community will have an opportunity to provide further input on the proposed ordinance at the community meeting and Planning Board and City Council public hearings. Notices of the meetings will be sent to all hillside property owners and other persons who have requested to receive notice. Meeting dates will also be posted on this web page once a schedule has been determined. It is anticipated that the meeting and public hearings will occur in fall 2007.
For further information, please contact Tracy Steinkruger at (818) 238-5250.
Background Information
The City Council directed staff to proceed with preparing view protection regulations in a three-phase approach. The first of these phases was the creation of new development standards for hillside properties including setbacks, height, and square footage. These standards were adopted by the City Council in May 2005 as part of the package of revised standards for the R-1 single family zone. On October 25, 2005, the City Council directed staff to proceed with the second phase, which will deal with vegetation and trees. Following completion of the second phase, the Council will consider whether to proceed with the third phase, which would involve the creation of an actual view protection ordinance including defining views to be protected and setting thresholds for acceptable levels of view obstruction.The second community meeting to discuss vegetation and trees was held on June 21, 2006.
» download the agenda and handout for the June 21 meeting
» download the summary of vegetation control options handout
» download the summary of vegetation control options handout including the vote tallies of preferred options from the community meetingThe first community meeting to discuss vegetation and trees was held on April 12, 2006.
» download the agenda and handout from the meeting
» download notes of issues discussed at the meetingIf you have any questions about view protection, please contact Tracy Steinkruger at (818) 238-5250.
For the latest news and event information, please contact the Planning and Transportation Division at (818) 238-5250.