By Samantha Benson
Magnolia Park has become a bustling, vivacious area of Burbank over the past several years. With the addition of trendy stores, great restaurants, and monthly events, the neighborhood has flourished. However, until recently, Magnolia Park had struggled with one major issue: parking.
With minimal street parking and one very crowded lot, visitors of the area began to take their vehicles to the surrounding areas, impacting the residents of the neighborhood. Worse yet, many people chose to go elsewhere, where parking was more abundant.
On Monday, October 20, during a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Joy Forbes, Magnolia Park made steps to correct some parking issues in the area by debuting a brand new, 41-stall parking lot located on Magnolia Blvd between Kenwood Street and Maple Street. Entrance is on the Maple Street side.
The lot, which will boast 2-hour free parking, was a collective effort put forth by a team of organizations, including the former Magnolia Park Partnership, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Kabarra Engineering, GMZ Engineering, and several departments within the City of Burbank.
Councilman Jess Talamantes was there to celebrate the collaboration that took place to make the project a success. While the City of Burbank has agreed to fund the annual cost of using the space, the Magnolia Park property owners have set aside over $300,000 to fund improvement costs, without which, Talamantes said, the project could not have been possible.
Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy spoke of the tremendous effort put forth by the Magnolia Park Merchants Association to up the “Cool Factor” of the neighborhood. Praising Ashley Erikson, Ladies Night Out organizer, as well as the merchants in the area, Gabel-Luddy applauded the upward shift in momentum that has been occurring in Magnolia Park.
“The City is excited,” she said.
