rancho Supporters address their concerns During THE July 25th, 2023 Public Hearing regarding project 910 S. Mariposa

SENATOR PORTANTINO

Emily Gabel-Luddy

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

The following points of concern were compiled by Emily Gabel-LudDy

OVERVIEW

  • The site of the project is the last Commercial Boarding Stable in the historic Burbank Rancho. CIRCLE K

  • The site is located at the convergence of an historic trails system serving three cities – Burbank and Glendale equestrian areas and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center located in Griffith Park (itself designated an Historic Cultural Monument).  

  • Three historic equestrian areas – Burbank, Glendale, and the area where the Los Angeles Equestrian Center now is – grew up 80 years ago around the river, Warner Bros. western movie making, and Griffith Park.

Habitat and the LA River

  • The site is just a few feet from the LA River.  The LA River has significant habitat and is well-known as a Pacific flyaway for migrating bird species.

  • The LA River Master Plan was adopted by the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2022 and envisions stepped up habitat restoration, protection of flora and fauna and more restoration.

  • The site is a few hundred feet away from an active Army Corps of Engineers habitat restoration project which adjoins the Burbank Rancho equestrian neighborhood and compliments the LA River Master Plan vision.

Site Eligibility – the 75% rule

  • The site of the project is the last Commercial Boarding Stable in the historic Burbank Rancho. CIRCLE K

  • The site is located at the convergence of an historic trails system serving three cities – Burbank and Glendale equestrian areas and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center located in Griffith Park (itself designated an Historic Cultural Monument).  

  • Three historic equestrian areas – Burbank, Glendale, and the area where the Los Angeles Equestrian Center now is – grew up 80 years ago around the river, Warner Bros. western movie making, and Griffith Park.

Property to the North

  • Applied Inventions (formerly known as Applied Minds) is the business occupying the parcel to the north of the project site.  The portion of the perimeter of the project site that is adjoining Applied Inventions is 357.5 linear feet.

  • Therefore, Applied Inventions occupies about 39% of the perimeter of the project site.  If the Applied Inventions side of the project site DOES NOT meet SB 35’s definition of “urban uses,” then the project site is not eligible for SB 35 (100% - 39% = 61%.)

  • The Los Angeles County Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) for the Applied Inventions parcel identifies that parcel as having solely an “industrial” use

  • The Architectural and Planning firm (KTGY) for the developer lists the use of Applied Inventions as “industrial.”

  • The developer, in a form attached to his Residential Application, lists the business of Applied Inventions as “light industrial.”

  • Applied Inventions themselves describe their business in their Business Permit Application filed with the City of Burbank as (1) Assembly/manufacturing and (2) Services, Personal or Business. In a narrative included in that Application, they clearly show that they design, build, and develop medical devices, robotics, generally complex systems ranging from computer vision, database software, data analytics, high performance computing, and technology solutions including biotechnology. (See article on the 10,000-year clock.)

  • The Institute for Local Government identifies “Commercial” and “Industrial” as separate land uses:

  • Commercial. A land use classification that permits facilities for the buying and selling of commodities and services.

  • Industrial. A land use classification often divided into “heavy industrial” uses, like construction yards, quarrying, and factories; and “light industrial” uses, like research and development and less intensive warehousing and manufacturing.

  • Therefore, the project is not site-eligible under SB 35 as (1) Applied Inventions is an “industrial” use and not a “commercial” use; (2) industrial uses and commercial uses are not synonymous; and (3) the perimeter area of Applied Inventions which adjoins the project site is 39% of the total perimeter of the project, resulting in less than 75% of the perimeter of the project adjoined by “urban uses” within the meaning of SB 35.

  • According to the City Attorney in the Council meeting of December 13, 2022, we are to look at “common sense” meanings and we are to look to the “plain language of the statute.”  In the case of Applied Inventions, the common sense meaning of the use of their business is “industrial,” not “commercial,” and the plain language of the statute uses the word “commercial” not “industrial.”

Property to the East

  • Griffith Park adjoins the project site for 166.1 linear feet along the eastern perimeter of the site, thus representing approximately 18% of the perimeter of the project site.

  • Staff has identified that parcel as “commercial.” The attorney for the developer has identified that site as the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and “containing a variety of uses which could be considered commercial or retail.”  KTGY, developer’s Architecture and Planning firm, has identified that parcel as “Public Institutional/Open Space.”

  • Griffith Park is an approximately 4,300-acre public park and “urban wilderness” located entirely within the City of Los Angeles.  It is zoned Open Space by the City of Los Angeles.

  • Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 12.04.05 B1(a)(i) provides a list of permitted uses in their Open Space zone. “Park and recreation facilities” and “equestrian trails” are included within that list.

  • The Los Angeles County Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) identifies the “use” of that particular parcel of Griffith Park as “Miscellaneous, Government Owned Property, Recreation, Horse Stable.”

  • There are many concessions within Griffith Park.  Among those concessions is the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (“LAEC”).  The property boundaries of LAEC are defined by a chain link fence that surrounds the LAEC, except for its main entrance which is a paved road.  Outside of the fenced boundaries of the LAEC is a dirt trail that surrounds the entirety of LAEC.  That dirt trail is a Bridle Path commonly known as the Perimeter Trail.

  • The Perimeter Trail/Bridle Path outside of the fenced boundaries of the LAEC is not a part of the property of the LAEC concession. Although located on the same parcel number as the LAEC, it is a separate and distinct area of Griffith Park land, which, like all the dirt trails/Bridle Paths in Griffith Park, is maintained by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.  In contrast, the property within the boundaries of the chain link fence is maintained by the concessionaire, the LAEC.

  • A portion of that Perimeter Trail/Bridle Path adjoins the eastern boundary of the property of 910 South Mariposa in the City of Burbank.

  • All the dirt trails/Bridle Paths in Griffith Park, including the Perimeter Trail, contain posted signage at each entrance to the trail advising the public that pursuant to Los Angeles Municipal Code Sections 63.44 B16 and 86.04, VEHICLES AND BICYCLES ARE PROHIBITED ON BRIDLE PATHS.

  • Because no vehicles are allowed on the Perimeter Trail/Bridle Path, that area is not a street or a highway within the meaning of the SB 35 75% perimeter rule.

  • The City of Los Angeles has the authority to define its own zones and its own uses within those zones, and the City of Los Angeles has defined the parcel adjoining the project site to the east as being in an “Open Space” zone with recreational uses that include park and recreation facilities and equestrian trails.

  • It is common knowledge that Griffith Park has many concessionaires (including Gift Shops, eating establishments, etc.) scattered throughout portions of the several parcels that comprise Griffith Park’s 4,300 acres.  The parcel on which the LAEC and the Perimeter Trail/Bridle Path are located is no different.  Those uses are part and parcel of the park and recreation facilities and equestrian trails identified as “uses” in Griffith Park by the City of Los Angeles.  None of the activities at LAEC transform those codified recreational uses into “commercial” uses for purposes of the 75% rule of SB 35.

  • Nor is that parcel “Public Institutional/Open Space” as stated by KTGY.  “Open Space” is a zone, not a use, and the parcel does not have an “institutional” use as defined by The Institute for Local Government:

  • Institutional Uses. (1) Publicly or privately owned and operated activities like hospitals, convalescent hospitals, intermediate care facilities, nursing homes, museums, and schools and colleges; (2) churches and other religious organizations; and (3) other nonprofit welfare, educational, or philanthropic activities that cannot be considered residential, commercial, or industrial uses.

Public Safety

  • Regardless of the development project, it is the City that controls the public “right-of-way” which in this case includes the streets of Mariposa, Valleyheart, Morningside, and Reese, Beachwood, and Griffith Park Drive all south of Riverside Drive.

  • It is the City’s job to provide safe access for ALL users of these public rights-of-way, including equestrians.

  • The site is just feet away from the only access point for equestrians from Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles Equestrian Center to Griffith Park – a 7-foot-wide suspension bridge over a 20-foot drop into the concrete channelized LA River, and built specifically for equestrians – that conveys amateurs, rent riders, tourists, and resident equestrians over the Los Angeles River and into Griffith Park.

  • The Bridge is the only access over the LA River from this side of Griffith Park.  There is no other access.

  • There are 4 trails converging on the Bridge:  the 2 on-street trails of Mariposa and Valleyheart, and the 2 dirt trails – 1 from the Pollywog and 1 from the bridle path surrounding the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.  Equestrians use ALL 4 access routes to the Bridge at all times of the day and evening, depending upon their own work, school, and personal schedules.

  • Regular construction hours in the City of Burbank are Monday through Friday from 7 am to 7 pm, and Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm. No construction is allowed on Sundays or holidays.

Construction Safety

  • We do not know the estimated time that it will take to construct 6 three-story buildings providing 23 townhomes and all the amenities that the developer proposes.  Is it 18 months, 2 years, more?

  • Horses are “Sensitive Receptors” within the meaning of CEQA.  While we realize that the CEQA requirements are not required for the developer under SB 35, the fact remains that this proposed project is:

  • In an historic Equestrian Community where horses are legally boarded in the backyards of homes throughout the R-1-H neighborhood to the west of the site;

  • Directly adjacent to Mariposa Street, which is an on-street trail for horses traveling to and from the Bridge;

  • Directly adjacent to, and with only a 5–7-foot setback from, Studio Horse Rentals, which houses 30 horses, and where people of all ages, including young children are placed on the backs of horses to take them across the Bridge into Griffith Park;

  • Directly adjacent to the Perimeter Trail/Bridle Path surrounding the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, which is used by hundreds of horses daily, 7 days a week; and

  • Located just a few feet from the intersection of 4 trails, which serve the equestrian communities of Burbank, Glendale (including 2 horse rental barns for Griffith Park trail rides), and Los Angeles (LAEC), and all of which converge on the only access across the LA River – a 7-foot-wide suspension bridge over a 20’ drop into the concrete channelized LA River.

  • The proposed location for this construction project could not be any worse.  Horses are “prey” animals with an acute sense of hearing and an innate sense of self-preservation.  A sudden loud noise (like the sound of a gunshot, a car back-firing, or any number of construction noises regularly occurring in the demolition, excavation, grading, and building of 23 three-story townhomes) is bound to trigger their natural reaction to spin, bolt, and gallop away from the sound that frightens them.  While this activity is dangerous for a lone rider, it is even more dangerous if riders are traveling in a group, as a single horse can easily set-off a stampede.

  • With all the above in mind, if the developer does not do so, will the city be providing “sound blankets” along the entire perimeter of the Project site on the days and at the times when demolition, excavation, grading, site improvements, or construction activity will take place on the site?  If not, why not?

  • Will the developer provide a Construction Management Plan (CMP), available to the public, that includes a schedule for demolition, construction staging, traffic coordination, and construction hauling?    If not, why not?  What steps will the City take to ensure that the neighborhood is notified, in advance, that these activities are scheduled to take place on a particular day, so equestrians can plan accordingly?

  • Will the developer or the City provide “spotters” at key locations?  Spotters are located on the bridle paths.  They signal to riders to stop well before the bridle path crosses a location where construction, maintenance or horse-related events are taking place.  They also stop those activities to permit riders to safely continue on the bridle path.  They appear on the bridle path at the main entrance to the LAEC whenever there is a large event when large trailers for multiple horses are queued up to enter/leave.  The spotters signal to riders to stop well before they cross the main entrance.  Spotters are also used during construction/maintenance activities that occur at or on the Perimeter Trail (for example when there is large tree trimming), where spotters will stop construction so that horseback riders can pass safely, including and especially rental riders.  Will there be spotters authorized to stop certain construction activity in order that equestrians may have safe passage on and off the Bridge during certain phases of construction?  If not, why not?

  • The “locals” are not the only users of the trails leading to the Bridge into Griffith Park. Single and group riders regularly “trailer-in” and park and unload their horse trailers on Valleyheart at Pollywog in Burbank, and on Rancho Ave. in Glendale, in order to get onto the trails and ride across the Bridge into Griffith Park for a day ride.  Therefore, any public notice of the construction must be large and posted at the entrances to the trails that converge on the Bridge, and notification to ALL the equestrian businesses in the Burbank/Glendale Rancho, and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center whose patrons regularly ride across the Bridge into Griffith Park.

  • Will the City devise a plan for construction traffic on the streets of Mariposa, Valleyheart, and Morningside, and Reese, Beachwood, and Griffith Park Drive, (all south of Riverside Drive) PRIOR to the start of construction?  If not, why not?

  • The formulation of that plan must include conversations with riders who actually and regularly ride horses on those streets, and who actually and regularly ride across the Bridge to and from Griffith Park.

  • The formulation of that plan must include conversations with the residents who live on those streets, and must necessarily include plans for access for fire and paramedic for those residents when the right of way is also occupied by construction and construction traffic.

  • Will construction traffic be allowed on ALL the streets, or only on a designated street?  When will that plan be decided upon?

  • Will the City indicate by pavement striping or cones or some other manner what portion of the street(s) are for equestrian use or standard vehicular use or construction traffic use? Or will it be a free-for-all on our residential streets with family cars, construction trucks, heavy machinery, and equestrians?

  • What arrangements will be made for the construction crew parking?  Will they be required to park “on site”?  Will the neighborhood have “permit parking only”?  What about the patrons of the Studio Horse Rental (directly adjacent to the project site)?  Will they have designated parking on the street?

  • What arrangements will be made to protect the Sensitive Receptor “captive” horses at Studio Horse Rental from the construction noise?  They are directly next door (with a 5–7-foot setback) to the construction site 24/7.

  • Martinez Arena, located in Griffith Park since the mid-1960’s, is the only large and enclosed public riding arena available to the Burbank and Glendale equestrians who are NOT boarding horses at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

  • What arrangements will be made for those neighborhood horses who are regularly brought across the Bridge to exercise, train, and run free in Martinez Arena, but unable to do so because they cannot safely access and cross the Bridge due to construction?  

Fire Safety

  • The City Attorney has said repeatedly that, for purposes of SB 35, since 910 S. Mariposa is not located on a site designated by the City of Burbank as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the Council cannot consider the fact that it is directly adjacent to Griffith Park, which is designated a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone by the City of Los Angeles.

  • However, California Government Code Section 51175, regarding Moderate, High, and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones states:

A) Wildfires pose a serious threat to the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety. The wildfire front is not the only source of risk since embers, or firebrands, travel far beyond the area impacted by the front and pose a risk of ignition to a structure or fuel on a site for a longer time. Since fires ignore civil boundaries, it is necessary that cities, counties, special districts, state agencies, and federal agencies work together to bring raging fires under control. Preventive measures are therefore needed to ensure the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.

B). The prevention of wild land fires is not a municipal affair, …but is instead, a matter of statewide concern. It is the intent of the Legislature that this chapter apply to all local agencies, including, but not limited to, charter cities, charter counties, and charter cities and counties. This subdivision shall not limit the authority of a local agency to impose more restrictive fire and public safety requirements, as otherwise authorized by law.

  • In addition, in 2020 the Burbank City Council itself found dangers inherent in living near or adjacent to a Very High Fire Severity Hazard Zone:

  • “The City Council has determined that wild land fires pose a serious threat in areas located within and adjacent to the Verdugo Mountains in northeast Burbank and within the southwestern portion of the City adjacent to the Warner Bros. Studios and the 134 Freeway (inclusive of the “Rancho area”)…Structure fires and grass fires are a safety hazard throughout the City, but they pose a unique risk in these two Mountain Fire Zone areas for Burbank residents, visitors and properties. Over the past three years, California has experienced an increase frequency and size of wildfires throughout the State. During this period the City of Burbank experienced three major fires, including La Tuna Fire that burned 7,194 acres and the Barham Fire that threatened the Hollywood Hills, the Burbank Hills Fire, and the Warner Bros. Studios Fire; all these fires were located within the City’s Mountain Fire Zones.…The City’s two designated fire zones are especially susceptible…The other fire zone that encompasses the Rancho area is also a unique area that is susceptible to higher risk and also requires special care….”

  • Yet, the project plans include a “fire pit” and “BBQ Island” located along the property border with Griffith Park, a Very High Fire Severity Hazard Zone.  How is the allowance of these specific amenities consistent with Burbank’s own findings for zone text amendments?

  • State Farm and Allstate have discontinued writing homeowner policies in California.  What provisions, if any, are there for financing the cost of homeowner insurance for the 2 “affordable” units in the Project?

Community Economic Losses

  • There are 3 horse rental barns in the Burbank/Glendale equestrian neighborhoods (one is Studio Horse Rentals directly next door to the project site) that are open 7 days a week, at least 8 hours per day, and whose only business is to provide Guided Trail Rides, on horseback, through Griffith Park.  Their patrons are most often amateur riders and children.  

  • Those equestrian businesses necessarily depend upon safe and continuing access to, from, and across the Bridge in order to maintain their business.  Without that safe and continuing access their businesses will close.

  • Each of those horse rental barns maintain staff to feed and groom their horses, to clean and maintain their stalls and premises, to saddle and unsaddle the horses, and to be the “guides” for the public on the Guided Trail Rides through Griffith Park.

  • As the number of Guided Trail Rides decline, so will the number of horses, and the number of employees needed to care for those horses.  Eventually, those businesses will simply close their doors, move their horses, and their employees will be out of a job.

  • If any or all the horse rental barns close their doors, those closures will negatively impact the financial well-being of the 2 feed and tack stores in the Glendale Rancho, to the degree that those feed and tack stores provide hay and other feed and stable supplies for the rental horse barns that will no longer be here.  The economic losses for the feed and tack stores as a result of the closure of the rental barns, will, in turn, result in a scaling back of the number of employees they need to load, unload, and deliver feed and other horse and stable supplies to all the equestrian businesses (and residents) in the area.  More people otherwise employed will lose their jobs.

  • There are independent contractors in the neighborhood whose sole employment (and in some cases their “2nd job”) is to exercise and/or train other people’s horses by riding those horses in Martinez Arena (Griffith Park) or on the trails of Griffith Park.  Their income is dependent upon the number of horses that they ride, and the number of days that they can ride.  For each day that they are unable to safely access and cross the Bridge on a horse, they will lose income.  And in some cases, that income is their entire livelihood and the only way they can support themselves and their families. Most of those independent contractors are persons of color.

  • Will there be arrangements made to financially compensate the business owner at Studio Horse Rental, located next to the project site, or the other equestrian businesses that suffer economic losses due to the impact of construction on the ability to safely access and travel on the Bridge on horseback?

  • What about those individuals that work independently by exercising and training horses in Griffith Park?  Will arrangements be made to financially compensate them for lost business due to construction impacting their safety to, from, and across the Bridge?

  • Or are these businesses and individuals who depend upon safe and continual access to, from, and across the Bridge expected to conduct their business outside of construction hours – BEFORE 7 am and AFTER 7 pm Monday through Friday, and BEFORE 8 am and AFTER 4 pm on Saturdays?  Are they expected to only be open on Sundays and Holidays when there is no construction?”