Meeting tackles lack of housing

MAGNOLIA PARK — Hoping to get the public’s input about Burbank’s housing shortfall, the city’s Planning Division held a community meeting Thursday night in the Buena Vista Library.

State law mandates that each city take stock of its housing capacity.

That mandate, called the General Plan Housing Element, is unique to each city and depends on factors such as jobs and regional development. The number of housing units a city must have is calculated through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which identifies each city’s existing and future housing needs, Senior Planner Barbara Lazar said.

Burbank must show it has the capacity to build at least 3,800 additional housing units through 2014.

Currently, the city has about 2,800 residential units, she said.

Residential projects do not have to be built, but Burbank must show it has the capacity to build the additional units, Principal Planner Michael Forbes said.

“Don’t expect 3,800 units are going to be built from now until 2014,” he said. “We just have to show we can.”

Burbank has to present its findings to the state in June, but the city has until then to gather input from the public and revise its housing element.

After staff members ran through a series of options to increase city housing capacity — including building residential units in industrial zones and increasing mixed-use development — it was the public’s turn to give their input.

About 25 people attended the meeting, including Shashi Hanuman.

The Los Angeles resident is newly married and was hoping to buy a home in Burbank.

“We heard so many great things about the city,” she said. “Great schools and very walkable.”

Despite her income, Hanuman was unable to find a home in her price range, she said.

“Everything we found was in the [$600,000 to $700,000] range,” she said. “And those were two bedrooms not that much bigger than my apartment now. “At the end of the day, we got so frustrated, but I am encouraged by some of the things I saw here tonight. At least Burbank is trying to accommodate its residents’ needs.”

Randy Romero, who lives in the Rancho area and owns two residential properties in Burbank, found the meeting informative and favored at least one option to increase housing.