Burbank Council to Study Growth Curbs in Media District

The Burbank City Council will discuss controls on growth in the city’s Media District at its meeting tonight.

The district, dominated by several motion picture and television studios, is a 1.2-square-mile area bordered roughly by the Ventura Freeway, Oak Street, Keystone Street and Clybourn Avenue.

The council will discuss a proposed Media District Specific Plan that aims at striking a balance between property owners who want to develop their properties and residents who are adamant about protecting their neighborhoods from increased traffic, pollution and noise.

The public will be invited to speak about the proposed building restrictions at the beginning of the council’s 7 p.m. meeting.

The plan includes what city officials say may be one of the strictest building controls in the state. Under that provision, allowed development might be limited to one square foot of floor area for every square foot of property.

Other restrictions on high-rises will be considered, such as setbacks and height limitations. The council will also discuss proposals that would require developers who want to build structures more than 35 feet in height to apply for a conditional-use permit, which would require public hearings.

The council’s suggestions will be used to revise the Specific Plan and then an environmental impact report will be prepared, City Manager Robert (Bud) Ovrom said.

Public hearings on the revised plan will be scheduled--probably in late spring or early summer--before both the Burbank Planning Board and the City Council, Ovrom said.