Burbank City Council eyes land-use change to free up parcel near Bob Hope Airport for development
In January, the Overton Moore Properties bought the site from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for $72.5 million and is expected to close escrow by the end of the month.
The Burbank City Council gave city staff the green light to start working on a possible general-plan amendment of a parcel near the Bob Hope Airport, so a business park with office, industrial and office space as well as a hotel might be built on it.
Council members unanimously voted during a meeting last week to get the ball rolling on a proposal by Gardena-based developer Overton Moore Properties to change the land use for a portion of a nearly 58-acre plot near the airport, known as the B6 parcel.
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About 18 acres of the property are currently designated for airport use and would need to be changed to commercial and industrial use before the developer can start the project.
Above all else, Overton Moore needs to have ownership of the entire property to move forward with any of its plans. In January, the business bought the site from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for $72.5 million and is expected to close escrow by the end of the month, said Timur Tecimer, chief executive of Overton Moore.
Scott Plambaek, a senior city planner for Burbank, told council members that their action Tuesday night was only to allow the developer to submit its project application and to initiate city staff to work on the general-plan amendment to change the land use of the 18-acre plot.
In 2013, the City Council adopted a preliminary review process that goes into effect whenever there is a request for an amendment to the city’s general plan. The rule allows council members to approve or deny projects early in the process in an effort to not waste city staff’s time on a plan that most likely would not be approved, City Atty. Amy Albano said.
Community Development Director Patrick Prescott said that, although council members opted to allow Overton Moore to submit its application to change the general plan, the action does not commit the City Council to the project.
Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy said that from what she has seen from Overton Moore, so far, she thinks the project is in line with what she and her colleagues envision on that property.
However, she added that she will not know if the project will be the right fit until the City Council sees all of the developer’s plans.
“This is an initiation worth stepping forward on,” she said.
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
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