Encino : Council Panel OKs Disputed Burger King

Despite the complaints of a homeowners group, a Los Angeles City Council panel Tuesday recommended approval of a Burger King drive-through restaurant proposed for Ventura Boulevard and Gloria Avenue in Encino.

The council’s Planning and Land Use Committee recommended that the City Council grant the restaurant an exception to the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan to allow it to operate its drive-through service. The site is in an area designated under the plan for pedestrian activity.

The committee also recommended that the council allow the restaurant to use residentially zoned land as a parking lot and as access to the drive-through window.

“We’re pretty satisfied,” said developer Ralph Cimmarusti, who with his brother, Larry, is behind the bid to bring Burger King to Encino. “I just wish we could get the community to see it our way, because we want to be good neighbors.”

The hearing was the latest in an ongoing battle over the proposed restaurant.

The Cimmarustis have said the restaurant will mean a $2-million investment in the community that would create about 60 jobs, but the president of a local homeowners organization has said the planned drive-through window will exacerbate the traffic problem in the area, create noise and lower property values.

The committee’s recommendation must be approved by the City Council, but the restaurant’s leading opponent said he expects the decision to be upheld.

“It’s just totally unacceptable. Our neighbors are extremely disappointed,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino. “But we are just going to have to eat this one.”