Homeowners Appeal Storage Firm’s Plans

Calling a storage company’s plans to rent trucks from a proposed self-storage facility detrimental to their neighborhood, the Tarzana Property Owners Assn. has filed an appeal with the city’s zoning board, which had earlier approved the plan.

“We feel strongly that the storage building, and especially the trucks, belong in an industrial zone and not a commercial zone that leads to nice residential areas,” said Helen Itria Norman, president of the Tarzana association.

“Both the neighborhood residents and the business owners are very much against this,” Norman said.

Glendale-based Self Storage Inc. purchased the property on Ventura Boulevard at Vanalden Avenue in 1996 and plans to erect a 40,000-square-foot facility on the site as soon as the appeal has been resolved, said Hugh Horne, the company’s vice president.

The property, which contains a lush garden of myrtle trees, pines and wisteria, in addition to hundreds of concrete statues, had been occupied for more than 50 years by Garden Statuary.

“I definitely think a storage facility is an inappropriate use of that site,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who represents the area. “It’s incredible to think of all those beautiful trees coming down.”

Both Miscikowski and the property owners’ group concede that Self Storage has the legal right to build the facility, but not to rent moving trucks at the site.

Norman said the building will be unattractive and contribute to traffic congestion in the area.

Horne, however, strongly disagreed.

“It’s not like the first generation of storage buildings. It will be aesthetically pleasing and fit in well with the neighborhood,” Horne said, adding that storage facilities “generate lower traffic than any other commercial or industrial use.”

Meanwhile, Judy Buksar, who, with her husband, Don, owns Garden Statuary, said she is disappointed about having to move her business.

“We would like to stay, anything’s possible,” Buksar said. “Nobody wants them to build the storage building here, but right now we’re just waiting to see what happens.”

The Board of Zoning Appeals will hear the association’s appeal on Sept. 9, Norman said.