PURPOSE:    

The purpose of this report is to provide information to the City Council to consider a proposed resolution to consider the conditional vacation of an easement for public street purposes extending six inches in width along the westerly side of Cordova Street between Olive Avenue and Warner Boulevard and reserving approximately 73.48 feet by six inches of Cordova Street for a public utility easement.

BACKGROUND:

The applicant, Warner Bros., is requesting to vacate a portion of a street easement six inches in width along Cordova Street to allow an encroachment of existing footings for a security wall that has been installed.  The wall was constructed on Warner Bros. property, however, the footings and columns encroached onto City property. The proposed area to be vacated is 400 feet in length, for a total area of 200 square feet.  The wall was constructed to increase security in response to the events of September 11, 2001, and replaced the chain link fence that previously existed (Exhibit A).

The wall and footings do not affect the width of the street or sidewalk.  Nevertheless, to accommodate the encroachment of the columns and footings, a six inch vacation along 400 feet of Cordova Street is proposed.  The southeasterly 73.48 feet of the proposed Vacation (the area that crosses Warner Boulevard at Cordova Street) will be reserved for a public utility easement.  The vacation of the easement for public street purposes would affect lots 1,2,22 & 23 of Tract 9523, all of which are owned by Warner Bros (Exhibit B).

On January 11, 2005, the City Council adopted a Resolution of Intention to Vacate, which declared its intention to consider the vacation of the subject strip and set the public hearing date for February 1, 2005 (Exhibit C).  The hearing date has been noticed and posted in accordance with the State Streets and Highways Code and the Burbank Municipal Code.

ANALYSIS:

All appropriate City departments and all outside utility companies have reviewed the proposed vacation, including Pacific Bell, Charter Cable, The Gas Company and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

The proposed vacation has been conditioned by one outside utility company.  The Gas Company is requesting a permanent easement be reserved to permit their continued use and operation of their facilities within the six inch strip and in their present location.  The present utility easement is located in that portion of the already vacated Warner Boulevard. The Gas Company is requesting to reserve a utility easement within the six inch strip adjacent to the vacated portion of Warner Boulevard as shown on the Exhibit B.

The Burbank Water and Power Department (BWP) has a eight inch water main (soon to be replaced and upgraded to a twelve inch water main) located in the vacated portion of Warner Boulevard.  The City of Burbank also requests to reserve a utility easement the width of the already vacated Warner Boulevard and within the additional six inch strip adjacent to Cordova Street that is to be vacated.

There are no other comments or conditions to the proposed vacation.  The applicant is aware of all the conditions and has agreed to accept them.  The comments from the City departments and the outside public utility companies are attached as Exhibit D.  The vacation reserves a public utility easement for existing facilities in the vacated portion of  Warner Boulevard. 

The following is a summary of comments received:

Building Division � No Objections

Public Works Department � No Objections

Police Department � No Objections

Fire Department - No Objections

BWP Electrical � No Objections

BWP Water � Request an easement be reserved for their eight inch water main, soon to be upgraded to a twelve inch water line, within the proposed vacated area that crosses the already vacated Warner Boulevard.

Park, Recreation and Community Services � No Objection

OUTSIDE AGENCIES AND PUBLIC UTILITIES

Southern California Gas Company � Request a permanent easement be reserved to permit their continued use and operation of their facilities located in the proposed vacated area.  

Charter Communication �No objections

County of Los Angeles Public Works � No objections

SBC Communications � No Objections

All procedures for routing the application for comment, notification mailing, publication of public hearing notice, and posting at the proposed areas of vacation were performed in accordance with the Burbank Municipal Code and the State Streets and Highways Code.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Adoption of the proposed Resolution will have no fiscal impact on the City.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution.

EXHIBITS:

Exhibit A          Photographs

Exhibit B          Map V-364

Exhibit C          Resolution of Intention to vacate V-364           

Exhibit D          Comments from City of Burbank Departments and outside public utilities

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