Planning Board Unanimously Denies Proposed New Home at 3147 Mesa Verde

After over two hours of presentations and discussions, the Planning Board voted unanimously Monday night to uphold Staff's recommendation to deny the proposed home (pictured above).  The project was initially rejected because it failed to comply with the prevailing size, scale and character of the surrounding neighborhood (a requirement of the Hillside Development Ordinance and our current IDCO) but the homeowner was appealing the decision.  Several members of Preserve Burbank and a number of direct neighbors to this home were in attendance requesting the project again be denied.   

DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO PHOTOS ABOVE?

The first photo was submitted by the applicant as part of the required elevation study used in determining the mass and scale of the proposed home.  The second photo was presented by Preserve Burbank to show how the applicant may have distorted the image by compressing the height of the home in order to minimize the obstruction of the neighbors' view of the hillside. We knew the image on the left was inaccurate because the red line in the middle of each photo represents the actual height of a standard garage door.  A huge Thank You goes to Fidel Fayad, a fellow Preserve Burbank member, who is an engineer and knows how to correctly scale the size of a home.

WHY DOES THE DIFFERENCE IN THESE TWO IMAGES MATTER?

Currently the City allows the applicant to submit their own 3-D image of the proposed project without having to use Story Poles on the actual lot to show exactly where the edges and height of the house will be (for the surrounding neighbors to see).  Until recently (you might recall Preserve Burbank successfully appealed the approval of a similarly large home on Joaquin Drive for the same reason) no one had called these images into question.  Now that we have, we are two for two in getting these home plans denied.  We think that Story Poles should be required for every new two story home that is proposed in Burbank to more accurately portray the actual size of the project to the public.  THIS IS SOMETHING WE PLAN TO RECOMMEND ON THURSDAY NIGHT DURING THE COMMUNITY MEETING (SEE ABOVE).