The City of Burbank Council met for their weekly Council meeting on Tuesday, November 17th, 2020 and opened the meeting in Memory of Lynn White-Shelby who passed on October 8th. Lynn was an active volunteer in the Burbank community including in the LA Providencia Guild serving as President twice, the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank, over 40 years in the Women’s Business Association serving as their President five times and recently serving on the Senior Citizen Board for Burbank.
The Burbank Cultural Arts Commission is accepting applications for a residential required unexpired term until July 21, 2023. The applications can be found at www.burbankca.gov/bccapplication. The Burbank City Clerk’s Office will be accepting applications now through December 16th at 5:00pm.
Mayor Sharon Springer proclaimed November 25th to December 10th “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence” in the City of Burbank and then followed with a recognition and certificates to the winners of the OurBurbank 2020 Halloween Decorating Contest. This Halloween was the highest number of applicants the OurBurbank committee has had and are excited for the Holiday Decorating Contest coming up. Applications for the holiday contest begin on Monday, November 30th.
There were three items on the Consent Calendar that were unanimously voted for approval. The first item was an adoption of an ordinance to update Accessory Dwelling Unit and Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit Definitions and Development Standards, consistent with applicable state laws. The second item was an adoption of a resolution designating the City Manager or Assistant City Manager as the authorized agent for the State of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the final item was an adoption of a resolution extending the local emergency caused by COVID-19.
Two Study Sessions were presented to council for direction on updates. The first study session was presented by Community Development Department Senior Planner, Lisa Frank, on the Burbank’s Inclusionary Housing Regulations. Policy questions were addressed to the council with recommendations to create an updated financial analysis and get community feedback, provide options for affordable housing set-aside, and maintain similar approaches as existing IH regulations but modify to require on-site construction as much as possible. The council members engaged in a discussion with the Community Development Department on what was presented and provided updates for the study session.
The second study session was presented by Community Development Department Senior Planner, Daniel Villa, on the City of Burbank’s Density Bonus Regulations. Due to the Density Bonus being adopted in 2006 and not updated, the department is seeking direction from council. Recommendations to council from staff were to maintain a modified tiered approach for incentives, concession and waivers, direct staff to facilitate the streamlined review of “by-right” projects, and direct staff to update the city’s existing implementation regulations. Council engaged in a discussion and provided recommendations for their study session.
The council unanimously voted to appoint Mary Lou Stefano who applied for the vacancy on the Senior Citizen Board for the unexpired term to July 31, 2022.
An introduction to an ordinance was presented to add sidewalk vending regulations and adoption of a resolution to amend for the fiscal year of 2020-2021. The Senate Bill 946 went into effect on January 21, 2019 to allow vending on public sidewalks but allowing cities to regulate time, place and matter. Currently the City of Burbank does not allow sidewalk vendors, only peddlers on private property. The ordinance would allow sidewalk vendors in the city while following regulations such as maintaining public pedestrian access and clear space for persons with disabilities while also maintaining distance from certain structures and safety facilities. Vendors would operate during certain hours approved in commercial and residential areas as well as getting a sidewalk vending business license, signing a hold harmless agreement and having an insurance policy. There were four votes to approve the ordinance while Vice Mayor Bob Frutos voted against it.
An update on the parking management plan for the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station was presented by David Kriske from the Community Development Department. Prior to COVID-19 the Metrolink parking lots were at capacity leaving lack of parking for Metro riders. Staff solicited bids for request for proposals and reviewed the costs for the top four ranked firms. All firms met requirements but the costs were higher than anticipated by staff. Due to the high costs the proposals were not pursued. With COVID-19 parking occupancy is down to 10% so staff recommended a phased implementation for a more simple and affordable option. Vice Mayor Frutos recommended to add free parking passes to volunteers working on the Burbank Rose Float and there was a unanimous vote to follow staff recommendations to reach out for bids on the phased implementation and do outreach and parking management.
Finally, an update was also presented on the enforcement of the flavored tobacco ban which goes into effect on January 1st. Staff will be monitoring the ordinance.
The next council meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 8th, 2020.
