Hillside

Robert Blechl HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- The Glendale-Burbank League of Women Voters will focus its next meeting on the Oakmont View V development proposal. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the league's land use update committee will discuss the Oakmont View V environmental impact report. A review of the league's existing land use position will follow. The update committee will also present alternatives to the proposed 572-home, 238-acre subdivision. The meeting, free and open to all members of the public, will be in Trevor Hall at the Burbank First Methodist Church, 700 N. Glenoaks Blvd.

Laura Sturza City Council members agreed to snap up what they consider a bargain -- nearly three acres of hillside land at the end of Brace Canyon Road for less than $4,000. "We have a policy of looking at any property in the hillside area to buy it and preserve it as open space," Community Development Director Sue Georgino said. The council approved the purchase of the property from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy at its Tuesday meeting.

CITY HALL ? The Planning Board on Monday upheld the approval of a planned two-story home in a hillside neighborhood where residents have mobilized against the development since the beginning. The 4-1 vote came after a contingent of neighbors argued that the proposed home was too large, would obstruct views, increase traffic and was inconsistent with neighborhood?s 1920s and ?30s Spanish and cottage architecture. The proposed 7,500-square-foot, two-story home with a basement at 1027 Sherlock Drive would be more than double the size of its single-story predecessor.

Laura Sturza Hillside residents are upset that a recent spate of development is robbing them of the views they treasure, but there is little they can do to stop it. "Homeowners association [members] are up in arms," said Wajid Hassan, vice president of the board of directors for a building of townhomes on Palm Avenue adjacent to a proposed five-story townhouse com- plex. "We are one of the few townhouses in the area with a view of the Verdugo hills."

Karen S. Kim HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- Burbank is trying to purchase about 3.5 acres of land up for auction next week in the hillside district where a debris basin -- a large pit of branches, rocks, dirt and mud -- now stands. A debris basin is used to collect excess rainwater that runs off the hillside during heavy rain. Burbank has dozens of debris basins throughout the hills, Public Works Director Bruce Feng said. "If we didn't have the debris basin, then the water would overflow the storm pipe," Feng said.

BURBANK — After nearly an hour of debate, the City Council voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that modifies height standards for fences and walls in the hillside area. The ordinance, approved by a 4-1 vote, is a solution to concerns raised by hillside residents that fences and walls negatively affect their views. It will require that fences or walls in a front yard be no more than 4 feet tall and incorporate an open design if it is over 2 feet, according to a city staff report.

Returns for the April 12 election show Bob Frutos making gains in precincts where he had previously finished near the bottom, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Emily Gabel-Luddy’s edge citywide. Gabel-Luddy eventually took the close election by just 95 votes after Frutos, armed with City Councilman Gary Bric’s endorsement, mounted a comeback in some key high-turnout precincts, according to voter return data from the city clerk’s office. Five out of 10 precincts where Frutos garnered 57% of the vote or more were in the hillside area of Burbank — precincts he had previously earned third place behind incumbent Bric and Gabel-Luddy.

Ryan Carter HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- As local beachgoers hop in their cars and head toward the sand this summer, some slithery serpents from the hillside will also be looking to do a little sunbathing. Summer season is rattlesnake season. "This is the time of year when rattlesnakes start down from the hill looking for water," Burbank Animal Shelter Acting Supt. Claudia Madrid said. That means residents in the hillside district and hikers on local trails should beware of the snakes, and to leave them alone, Madrid said.

HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- The city's hillside area came through the holiday weekend rainstorms with minimal problems, city officials said Tuesday. The storms were the most severe to hit the area since mid-October when nearly 2 inches of rain fell over a three-day period, causing mudslides in areas that had been damaged by brush fires just two weeks earlier. "We had a little bit of debris come down Country Club Drive but that's been cleaned up," interim Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said Tuesday.

Small fires follow fireworks show The Burbank Fire Department brought in some extra equipment Monday night to tackle small fires left behind from the fireworks show at the Starlight Bowl. The audience at the outdoor music venue was held in place until the fires were extinguished because vehicles had been parked nearby, Burbank Fire Department Capt. Ron Bell said. The fires were in the hillside just below the city dump used as the launching site for the fireworks, Bell said.

Returns for the April 12 election show Bob Frutos making gains in precincts where he had previously finished near the bottom, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Emily Gabel-Luddy’s edge citywide. Gabel-Luddy eventually took the close election by just 95 votes after Frutos, armed with City Councilman Gary Bric’s endorsement, mounted a comeback in some key high-turnout precincts, according to voter return data from the city clerk’s office. Five out of 10 precincts where Frutos garnered 57% of the vote or more were in the hillside area of Burbank — precincts he had previously earned third place behind incumbent Bric and Gabel-Luddy.

Of the 10 precincts with the highest voter turnout in Burbank’s primary election, eight were from the hillside area, and the two City Council candidates remaining on the April 12 ballot have taken notice of that fact. Voter participation in the February primary fell 6% to 14.3%, the lowest point in recent years, according to city clerk records. With voter apathy reaching new heights, the two run-off candidates have mostly focused their campaigns on what likely will be a small pool of voters.

Burbank police issued a crime alert Thursday night after neighbors expressed rising concerns following a recent rash of residential burglaries. In the area bordered by North Glenoaks Boulevard, East Walnut Boulevard, North Kenneth Road and Andover Drive, residents said they're concerned after five homes were burglarized in the community since Nov. 19. Fourteen homes in a one-mile radius of the area, including the five, were broken into since...

CITY HALL ? The Planning Board on Monday upheld the approval of a planned two-story home in a hillside neighborhood where residents have mobilized against the development since the beginning. The 4-1 vote came after a contingent of neighbors argued that the proposed home was too large, would obstruct views, increase traffic and was inconsistent with neighborhood?s 1920s and ?30s Spanish and cottage architecture. The proposed 7,500-square-foot, two-story home with a basement at 1027 Sherlock Drive would be more than double the size of its single-story predecessor.

HILLSIDE — A Burbank Police sergeant who was listed in an FBI probe into police misconduct shot himself to death Thursday morning on the corner of a residential street, authorities said. Burbank Police Sgt. Neil Thomas Gunn Sr., 50, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the corner of North Sunset Canyon Drive and East Harvard Road, Lt. John Dilibert said. Police were called to the intersection at about 11:40 a.m. after witnesses reported seeing Gunn turn the gun on himself, Sgt. Thor Merich said.

BURBANK — After nearly an hour of debate, the City Council voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that modifies height standards for fences and walls in the hillside area. The ordinance, approved by a 4-1 vote, is a solution to concerns raised by hillside residents that fences and walls negatively affect their views. It will require that fences or walls in a front yard be no more than 4 feet tall and incorporate an open design if it is over 2 feet, according to a city staff report.

Humans encroached on coyotes’ area Shame on Jim Riggio (“Coyotes are on the prowl in our hillsides,” Mailbag, July 26-27) and hooray for Robert Morrison (“Follow simple rules regarding coyotes,” Mailbag, July 30). I live in the Burbank hillside area and have seen my share of wildlife, including coyotes. What Riggio and many others seem to forget is that we humans are the ones who have encroached on the habitat of these coyotes. Because of development and the destruction of the environment, they, along with other wildlife, have nowhere else to go, and consequently they come down into neighborhoods in search of food and water.

CIVIC CENTER DISTRICT — Burbank Fire Department officials are breathing sighs of relief as the Fourth of July holiday came and went without an emergency incident. But we're not out of the woods yet, they warned. "The Fourth is over and Burbank was pretty peaceful and not all that busy," Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell said. "I was out at the [Starlight] Bowl yesterday and a lot of people I talked to said, 'Good, we made it through the Fourth.' Well, that's true — we did make it through the Fourth — but we haven't completely made it."

BURBANK — The traditional Fourth of July fireworks display at the Starlight Bowl will be suspended this year because of concerns over fire safety. Burbank Fire Department officials made the decision after testing moisture levels in the hillside near the bowl, finding vegetation far too brittle to safely conduct a fireworks show, said Burbank Fire Chief Tracy Pansini. "It was a tough decision, but it's the right decision," he said. "The safety of the community has to take preference over launching fireworks.

CITY HALL — The City Council denied an appeal of a proposed 1,800-square-foot hillside home in Chevy Chase Canyon Tuesday, following a passionate and, at times, racially heated discussion. Glendale resident Art Simonian's proposal required a variance because of the lot's sub-standard size — more than 1,000 square feet less than the minimum 7,500 square feet the city's hillside ordinance required. The Board of Zoning Appeals granted the variance at its Feb. 6 meeting.