Council gives conversion thumbs down

The City Council rejected an application to turn a guesthouse into a

permanent living space Tuesday, siding with residents who feared it

may create parking and traffic problems.

The council determined that the first-come, first-serve policy for

a second dwelling unit on a residential lot favored another homeowner

and that Janet Gallegos had not gotten her application in on time.

“It is a lousy system that allows the first person in line to get

it and everybody else loses out,” Mayor Jef Vander Borght admitted.

A city ordinance stipulates that there may only be one property

within a 300 foot radius with a second living space. A guesthouse

does not have kitchen facilities and cannot be rented out, whereas a

second dwelling unit can be rented and has a kitchen area, Deputy

City Planner Joy Forbes explained.

The city Planning Board recommended in July that Gallegos’s

application for a variation be approved by the council. But five

neighbors filed appeals on that recommendation.

“Please help us,” resident David Heidenreich said. “I know the

council was part of the findings for the 300-foot separation. I hope

you are there for the families struggling to keep their neighborhood

intact.”

Resident Robin Wright charged that favoritism was going on because

Gallegos works for the city as a senior secretary for Burbank Water

and Power.

Gallegos said she first approached the planning department in

August 2004 to convert her guesthouse but was told that she was not

allowed because a second dwelling unit already existed on her street.

But the information was wrong, she learned in November 2004. The

other owners applied to have a second dwelling unit after her first

request was made, Gallegos said.

The variance she sought was a way to right the wrong done to her

when she was given misinformation by the city, she said.

“As for favoritism, nothing could be further from the truth,”

Gallegos said. “If anything, I have been held up to a higher standard

because I am a city employee. But there is a certain element who will

point to those things.”

What swayed the council in rejecting Gallegos’s variance

application is that she did not close on her Ontario Street property

until Sept. 26 -- 13 days after the 430 Ontario owners filed their

application.

Councilwoman Marsha Ramos said she was ready to support Gallegos

until finding out the closing date on her property.

“If you peel away all the layers the people at 430 [Ontario] got

their application in first,” Councilman Dave Golonski said. “Even if

the information [given to Gallegos] was different I don’t know if she

would have been the first in.”

QUESTION

What do you think of the city’s rule about only one house within

300 yards having a second dwelling? E-mail your responses to

o7burbankleader @latimes.comf7; mail them to the Burbank Leader,

111 W. Wilson Ave., Glendale, CA 91203. Please spell your name and

include your address and phone number for verification purposes only.