At the end of every Burbank City Council, Councilmembers are asked if there are items they would like to see put on future agendas for the Council to discuss at a later time. At the meeting held Tuesday, April 5, Vice Mayor Konstantine Anthony asked for an item to be added to the agenda to possibly buy the property located at 910 S. Mariposa.
Currently, the Stables, located at 910 S. Mariposa are slated to be developed into “Butterfly Gardens”, a low-density workspace. According to the developers, the plan is for 23 small office bays and an additional 7 pods, which are smaller than the 23 main units.
A check of the City of Burbank’s website does not show any plans have been submitted yet for City approval.
Asked about his reasons for asking to agendize the property, Anthony said, “The horse stables at 910 S. Mariposa are slated to be developed into a commercial office space and on Tuesday I asked city staff to investigate options for Burbank to purchase the property directly in order to maintain the stables.”
If the City were successful in the purchase of the property, Anthony would advocate for the stables to remain in operation as they currently are. Instead of the City running the facility however, he feels a third-party private vendor would be a good fit, much like the way DeBell Golf Course runs and could operate the facility more efficiently.
Anthony feels this is the right time for the City to step in the protect the integrity of the Rancho area, which is a unique community. “Long-term, I believe the horse stables must be protected as they are an integral part of the Rancho District, much like the LA City-owned properties directly to the south.”
The Rancho District has attracted a lot of attention lately with a housing project slated for the area currently being occupied b the Pickwick Bowling Alley and Gardens, which are both slated to close at the end of April. MW Investments purchased the property and were able to bypass city zoning by invoking Senate Bill 35, a measure that limits the City of Burbank’s control over the outcome of the proposal. Presently, 98 townhomes are scheduled to be constructed there.
While the developer, Butterfly Gardens LLC, has announced their project, they said they wanted to work with the equestrian community and the Rancho residents.
Butterfly Gardens Communications Director Garo Manjikian, told myBurbank reporter Devin Herenda at the time, “This project is completely by-right according to all existing local zoning codes and regulations. With that said, we plan to go above and beyond what is required, as we want to be a good neighbor and a responsible developer, that is why we are prioritizing community engagement.”
Anthony on the other hand thinks it is time for the City to step up to protect the Rancho District.
“The most important takeaway from the current proposal on Mariposa St. is that we can no longer rely on the benevolence of developers to build the communities we want in Burbank, we must use every tool available (zoning, incentives, fees, etc) to carefully carve out the beautiful city we envision from the marble slab in front of us.”
It has yet to be determined when the item will be placed on the Council’s agenda for discussion.
I hope the city can swing this! It would be a shame to lose this historic boarding stable to office space. Save the Rancho!
Thanks for sharing. The City of Burbank is currently operating in a perpetual state of deficit. That deficit was so staggering that up to 7% of our utility billing is diverted to the General Fund to shore up the unbalanced City budget. Taxpayers cannot and should not engage in saving a property for the benefit of a very small number of Burbankers benefit at the detriment of a balanced budget. I invite my fellow Burbankers to look at where the money actually goes and here is the budget: https://bit.ly/3jwqDMh
Did you notice that streets are in disrepair and sales taxes in Burbank are much higher than one mile away in Los Angeles?
There are 42 parts in our petite city already. And the City keeps adding more despite our budget imbalance.
Look for higher local taxes and fees! Have you ever wondered what the “in lieu transfer” is on your utility bill? Be sure to ask…
Thank you CITY OF BURBANK for doing the right thing and bringing out the heart of soul of our community.
You are allowing our city to not be overcome with developers who want to stuff more humans into small spaces to the end of… well, I will let you fill in that blank.
It’s time to be smart about our future and save this planet and community of horse lovers, not to mention protecting this space by allowing our animals and nature be left alone to provide ourselves, our future with a place a peace to enjoy for everyone, not just a few people in some apartments buildings (Burbank-Taxpayers cannot and should not allow more apartment buildings to be built for the benefit of a very small number of people who benefit at the detriment of the whole city and surrounding cities, present and future, who come to enjoy the horses, safe community and safe spaces they get to ride in).
Please help this community to purchase this property and allow it to remain in operation for the good of everyone.
Thank you.
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