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Council Votes 4-0 (with the Mayor abstaining) to Deny the Appeal Against a CUP for a Single Family Residence
It was another long night at City Council. Burbank resident, Pat Tomski appealed the Planning Board's decision to allow for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow the top plate measurement (the height of the top of the second floor walls from the ground) to be measured from the average height of the lot (not allowed by code) instead of the lowest point of the lot where the structure meets the ground. The lot in question slopes 4 feet from the high side to the low side. Using the average height allows the applicant to build 2 feet higher than otherwise allowed. A loophole in the code was created a year ago when City Council voted to rescind many of the protective elements in the Design Guidelines for New Construction which allows homeowners outside of the designated Hillside Area of Burbank to request this CUP. If the applicant had tried to do this only two blocks away it would not have been possible.
Pat Tomski had laryngitis and asked me to read her prepared appeal. You can watch the entire presentation by clicking on this link to view it on YouTube.com. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Burbank+City+council
You can watch the entire appeal beginning at 1:13:34 or you can skip to Pat's appeal beginning at 1:25:59. I had planned to give her rebuttal and did so beginning at 2:53:08 (yes, I stood on a stepstool to make a point).
Things were going well until Vice Mayor Shultz, who was calling in on Zoom, asked me which of the "six findings the council must make" in order to approve or deny the CUP were in violation. I was caught off guard as no one had mentioned these criteria to Pat Tomski or myself during our months of preparation for the meeting. You can see this exchange at 3:11:50. Ironically, if those criteria had been presented to us, we might have taken a very different approach to the appeal, possibly withdrawing it entirely. This was our first CUP appeal and it's always a risk venturing into new terrain. I used this as an additional opportunity to point out that staff never produced a single document despite Pat's timely Public Records Request.
THE GOOD NEWS is that at the end of the meeting, well past 11:30 pm, Mayor Anthony asked staff for a "First step report to suspend all Conditional Use Permits (CUP's) for single family homes in R-1 neighborhoods with appropriate by-right changes to the zone text amendment." He clearly wants to eliminate this loophole for future projects. This would prevent this project from setting precedent for future hillside projects outside of the designated Hillside Development area. THIS IS A HUGE WIN AND MORE THAN WE WERE HOPING FOR.
As always, thanks to those of you who called in, attended the meeting and sent emails to council. Your voices matter!
Dear Ashley, it has become glaringly apparent that certain members in our email list are using our updates to rally opposition to just about every time we file an appeal or ask our members to participate in City Council matters. I have long suspected this, but last night Ashley hissed at me with a direct quote from my previous email stating "This is not a popularity contest." After the meeting she and others stood outside the Council Chamber doors to hurl insults in my direction such as "You don't know what you are talking about," and "Aren't you getting tired of losing?" This is all pretty tame compared to the time an applicant tried to push me down the front stairs of City Hall after another appeal. I've gotten used to it. Because you refuse to have a civil conversation with me I'd like to take this opportunity to speak with you indirectly. The appeal brought against your home project which included the excavation of a 1,600 s.f. basement on Cornell was several years ago, shortly after the new design guidelines had been adopted. Your basement was the first of its kind ever to be proposed in Burbank. Staff chose to exclude the square footage of your finished basement in the calculation of the total FAR for the project. This has never been done. If you go back to find the video of the meeting you might finally realize that the appeal had nothing to do with you. Our appeal was focused on the staff's decision to ignore the square footage (which was larger than the existing home you tore down) in their calculations. This was a loophole missed by staff. This was never about you. After your "win" I approached you to shake your hand and it wasn't until your husband forced you to, that I congratulated you and wished you well on your project. You "won" but weeks later staff was forced to reconsider finished basement square footage as part of the FAR, a "win" for the community.
Weeks later, after we discovered that staff had secretly raised the appeal fee by 800% without authorization (none of the city council members remembered voting for it) a hearing was held to reconsider the fee and you and your friends showed up again hurling insults and accusations of racism at other members of the community and myself. The appeal fee was not reduced (a "win" for you) but shortly thereafter the building permit fee was increased five-fold for all future new home construction (a "win" for the community).
Last night's appeal was again, not about you or the home owner. It was the first CUP that I have ever seen in Burbank to circumvent the building codes. The loophole was buried in the code by staff, and in our opinion violates the intent of the design guidelines. Staff violated their obligation to produce any records related to the project and withheld the criteria for the Council's decision until they released the staff report the morning before the appeal. We lost. After the appeal I shook the applicants hands and wished them well. They took it very graciously and did not hang around to harass me or the appellant.
Consistent and objective codes are designed to eliminate these neighbor on neighbor confrontations. We don't pick and choose projects based on the last names of the applicants; we choose them based on how they may affect future projects and the rights of both the builder and the rest of the residents. It is clear that last night's appeal should never have happened and it was a horrendous waste of time, energy and money for everyone, BUT it caused the Mayor to ask to address this situation so that it never happens again. I call that a WIN for everyone.
If you would ever like to get together to discuss all things Burbank, I'd welcome the meeting. Perhaps we can get to know each other better instead of carrying on this silly feud. I'm sure you will discover that I have some redeeming qualities and that if you or any of your friends has their property value, privacy or views threatened, I will gladly assist you in your fight.
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As always, please direct questions or comments to info@preserveburbank.com or call Jim Casey at 818-641-9050 with any questions or concerns.
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