City Vacates Street for Warner Bros. Parking Structure

Warner Bros. Studios has overcome the final obstacle to implementing its master plan for development with permission granted by the Burbank City Council allowing the studio to use a portion of Franklin Avenue for construction of a parking garage.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, a handful of residents protested what one of them called “medieval feudalism,” while others threatened legal action to block construction of the proposed two-story garage, to be built on two existing studio parking lots and the street that divides them.

The vote was 4 to 1, with Councilman Ted McConkey dissenting. By its action, the city gave up a portion of Franklin near Olive Avenue and parts of the adjacent alleys.

Vacation of the street “is for the sole benefit of Warner Bros.,” Robby Shaw, a vocal opponent of the studio and local resident, told the council. “Our pleas to protect the sanctity of our neighborhoods have gone unheard and there will be legal ramifications.”

Dan Garcia, vice president of real estate and public affairs at Warner Bros., said Wednesday that there was no legal reason for the city not to give the street to the studio.

“We originally owned the land,” Garcia said. The city took over the land about 35 years ago for use as a public thoroughfare, he said, but the street has been blocked off with barriers for the last four years.

“They just gave the land back,” he said.

The council in September approved construction of the Franklin Avenue parking structure along with the studio’s 20-year master plan. Some residents and council members suggested that the transfer of the street--critical to the design of the garage--was a foregone conclusion because of the earlier master plan approval.

“I am not comfortable with the way it came up,” said Councilman Bob Kramer, who voiced his concerns before voting for approval. “We had already approved the parking structure . . .”

McConkey said he opposed the action because he believes the street may be needed for public use now or in the future.

“How can we say with any certainty that there isn’t a prospective need for the street?” McConkey asked. “I just don’t see how we can do that.”

Warner Bros. will be required to relocate sewer, water, electric, cable television and telephone lines that are currently in the street to be vacated.