Parking Structure

Construction projects and fundraising efforts for a $27-million expansion at Woodbury University are expected to be completed in the next two months. Through a more than two-year campaign, staffers in the university?s advancement office have raised roughly $26 million for the construction of two new buildings on campus. In August 2006, construction began on new school of architecture and school of business buildings as well as a 350-space parking lot on the campus? upper level.

I must protest against an increasing discrimination against handicap plaque users in the city of Burbank. I live in the 1000 block of East Magnolia Boulevard, near Bel Aire Drive, and recently there was a complaint from someone about residents parking their cars in front of their own houses for more than 72 hours. Among the cars first marked, and some ticketed — even though they were moved — were autos with handicap plaques in the window; my car was one of them. The marks do not always come off and apparently the police do not keep track of where the cars were parked when they were first marked.

CITY HALL ? Projected parking revenues will likely not keep pace with the cost of maintaining parking facilities in Burbank, which could mean less frequent maintenance in city structures and the possibility of paid parking. Though increased fees for parking permits will help pay for operating expenses, revenues will not be enough to sustain the parking authority fund through the long term, said Jeanne Keeler, a parking analyst for the Public Works Department. "Permit increases approved by the council will provide temporary relief to the rising maintenance costs," she said.

Ben Godar Police arrested a man late Friday suspected of committing several sexual assaults in Burbank and Glendale, and possibly beyond. Three women reported this week that man groped them in various parking areas around Burbank's Media City Center, police said. In each case, the man approached the victim and reached his hand under her skirt before running away. "We're not aware of any rape attempts," Burbank Police spokesman Sgt. William Berry said.

Ben Godar Rain might not come frequently in Burbank, but police and fire officials have learned it can still cause problems. When the two-level parking structure at the Police and Fire Headquarters was built five years ago, the concrete used was not sealed. Over time, rainwater soaked through the concrete, mixed with casing chemicals and leaked on several cars parked on the first level, said Officer Steve Berdrow, the building manager. Though the structure houses department cars and officers' personal cars, Berdrow said most of those stained were personal vehicles.

Molly Shore Burbank High School's head tennis Coach Paul McNiff is pleased. After three years of coaching the teams at McCambridge Park's Tennis Center because the school's courts were demolished in Phase I construction, the tennis program will return to campus early next year. "I am happy that the courts will be back on campus," McNiff said. "For the past three years, students have been playing at McCambridge Park's Tennis Center, and while the center does a good job accommodating the school's tennis program, the students have to share the facilities with many others who use it."

Molly Shore School district officials are reconsidering a $6.1-million parking structure planned for Burbank High School, even though money earmarked for the project is available in the district's building fund. "Because the original cost escalated, staff was trying to be creative and come up with alternative plans," school board President Richard Raad said Friday. Preliminary reports projected the cost at $5 million. Savings that might be derived from one of the alternate plans could be funneled back into the building fund to pay for additional construction projects within the district, Raad said.

The following incidents were taken from police reports. BURBANK VILLAGE 133 E. Orange Grove Ave.: A 24-year-old Washington man told police his car stereo was stolen Wednesday while his Honda was in a parking structure. NORTHWEST DISTRICT 3500 block of West Burbank Boulevard: A 20-year-old San Pedro woman told police Wednesday that her boyfriend's former girlfriend was sending her threatening messages by phone and fax. MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH 930 N. San Fernando Blvd.

The Castaway, the huge restaurant and banquet facility capable of serving about 4,000 customers a day, which is situated on a tiny mesa high in the hills at the end of Harvard Road in Burbank, and which expanded by 10% in 1994, wants to expand again. The Castaway hosted a neighborhood meeting April 17 to share its plans for a renovation that includes the construction of a massive $2-million, two-story parking structure for approximately 200 cars. Enough is enough.

Ryan Carter MEDIA CITY CENTER -- A man jumped to his death from a parking structure at the mall, officials said. Mark Hayes Syverud, 50, jumped off a 60-foot parking structure Monday at the Sears at 550 N. First St., officials said. It was an apparent suicide, police said. Burbank paramedics responded shortly before noon and rushed Syverud to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where he died, Burbank Fire Marshal Dave Starr said. Syverud, who lived in Burbank, might have been upset about his health, police said.