PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to provide Council with information and recommendations concerning an ordinance to amend the Burbank Zone Text, in addition to a resolution to amend the Burbank Fee Resolution, in order to allow the operation of commercial music lessons from residences.

BACKGROUND

The current Burbank Home Occupation Ordinance, Section 31, Division 11, of the Burbank Municipal Code, was amended in 1998 to reflect Council�s desire to change the manner in which home occupations were to be regulated.  In 1997 Council formed a citizen action committee, known as the Home Occupation Task Force.  The purpose of the task force was to study the existing Home Occupation Ordinance and provide recommendations for amendments to this section of the code.

One of the task force recommendations was not to allow any commercial lessons, including commercial music lessons, to be conducted from a residence.  The reasons for not allowing commercial lessons to be conducted from residences was the concern about potential noise, extra vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and the loitering caused by students while waiting for lessons to begin, or waiting to be picked up after lessons had been conducted.  Council adopted this recommendation as an element of the current Home Occupation Ordinance which staff has been actively enforcing.

In May, 2005 Council requested staff to revisit the restrictions which prohibited commercial music lessons from being conducted from a residence.  Staff returned to Council on July 12, 2005 which resulted in Council�s

unanimous direction for staff to present, for the Planning Board�s consideration, a draft ordinance which amends the Burbank Municipal Code to allow commercial music lessons to be conducted from residences.  The draft ordinance which was reviewed by Council contained basic regulatory guidelines in the form of restrictions, standards, and conditions.

On November 28, 2005 the Planning Board reviewed Project #2005-150, which was the draft Home Occupation Music Ordinance.  After deliberations and a few recommended modifications to the ordinance, the Planning Board voted 4-0 to approve this draft ordinance.   Most recently, on February 14, 2006 Council conducted a public hearing to review the Planning Board�s recommendations.  However, Council did not adopt the draft ordinance as approved by the Planning Board.  Council directed staff to return at a later date with five (5) modifications to the ordinance.  The modifications Council directed staff to make are:

1. The AUP fee be reduced from $350 to $175.

2. The hours of operation be 9 am to 7 pm.

3. Exclude Sundays from the days of the week commercial music lessons may be given from the residence.

4. Establish decibel limit criteria as measuring standards for the sound levels allowed to emanate from residences where commercial music lessons are provided.

5. Not allow commercial music lessons from multi-family structures.

With one minor exception, staff has incorporated all the above modifications as directed by Council to the amended draft ordinance.  The minor exception is the above item #5.  The reason this amendment hasn�t been included in its entirety has to do with the nature of older multi-family structures in Burbank.

There are many older Burbank multi-family zoned properties which have on their premises multi-family structures which are constructed as stand-alone structures looking much like a single family residence.  In other words, there are many R-2, R-3, R-4, and R-5 properties which have two or three separate stand-alone structures on the premises.  These types structures do not share common walls, floors, or ceilings and are therefore not subject to the noise sharing possibilities of traditional multi-family apartment or condominium structures.  Therefore, this draft ordinance recognizes this fact and does not entirely disallow commercial music lessons in a multi-family zone as long as the structures on that property do not share a common wall, ceiling, or floor.  If Council chooses not to approve this exception, staff is prepared to modify the draft ordinance to totally disallow commercial music lessons for any multi-family zoned property.

ANALYSIS

Both Council and the Planning Board have deliberated on this matter (copy of February 14, 2006 Council staff report attached as Exhibit A).  These combined deliberations have resulted in restrictions, standards, and conditions as being the basis for a Zone Text Amendment allowing the operation of commercial music lessons from the residence.  The following are the restrictions, standards, and conditions set forth in the draft ordinance:

1. AUP requirement with notification to property owners and occupants within a one hundred and fifty (150) feet radius of the property.  The cost of AUP, as previously recommended by Council, is $175.

2. Applicants for an AUP must submit to background checks if teaching students under the age of eighteen (18).

3. Music lessons may be conducted between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

4. Music lessons shall be limited to any five (5) days of the week excluding Sundays.

5. Music lessons are limited to ten (10) students per day.

6. Music lessons shall be conducted as one-on-one lessons with no group lessons, recitals, or concerts conducted on the premises of the home occupation.

7. Noise standards are established as set forth in Article 2, Chapter 21 of the Burbank Municipal Code which pertains to noise associated with machinery, equipment, fans and air conditioning in a residential zone (copy of this code section attached as Exhibit B).

8. Designated location on the premises for the queuing of students before and after lessons to prevent uncontrolled loitering.

9. On premises parking must be provided.

10. Lessons are not subject to the pedestrian and vehicle traffic restrictions of Subsection (i) of the Home Occupation Ordinance.

11. 1Music lessons are prohibited in any multi-family structure which shares a common wall, ceiling, or floor with any other unit.

12. The applicant is responsible for all costs associated with the permitting process, including any applicable background investigation fees, as established by the Burbank Fee Resolution.

Item #7, which is the noise standards established as decibel limits, are the current Burbank Municipal Code standards used for measuring noise in residential zones which emanates from machinery, equipment, fans and air conditioning.  Staff conducted sound tests to make sure these standards were applicable for purposes of this ordinance.  While testing these sound standards it was staff�s intention to make sure these standards were reasonable and not overly prohibitive, yet substantially protective of adjoining properties.  As such these tests were conducted for several hours in the afternoon and the early evening at a residence located in a central portion of the City of Burbank.   The musical instrument used to test the noise levels was a grand piano.   Staff found that as long as windows and doors were closed while the piano was being played the loudest, the sound was substantially below the allowed decibel limits.  When the doors and windows were open, a limited amount of sound did approach, and briefly reach, the upper limits established by this standard.

Staff believes that within the scope of establishing conditions of an AUP, the unique physical features associated with all the residential properties which could possibly be impacted by sound, will be considered when addressing the noise standards proposed for this ordinance.  As such, conditions will be crafted as a part of the AUP which will assure the noise standards of this ordinance are not violated.  An example of a reasonable condition would be that if there are doors or windows near the music lessons location, that those doors and windows be closed during the times music lessons are being provided.

CONCLUSION

Both the City Council and the Planning Board have preliminarily determined that through the implementation of restrictions, standards, and conditions, that the conduct of commercial music lessons from the residence will not be detrimental to residential neighborhoods.  In addition to these restrictions, standards, and conditions, both Council and the Planning Board have determined that the AUP process will provide sufficient control over this commercial activity from the residence.  As such, if continued violations of the restrictions, standards, or conditions occur, revocation of the AUP is an available tool to correct repeated violations. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Staff recommends that Council approve AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK AMENDING CHAPTER 31 OF THE BURBANK MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO HOME OCCUPATIONS AND MUSIC LESSONS.  In addition, staff further recommends Council approve A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK AMENDING ARTICLE III OF RESOLUTION NO. 23-6,994, THE BURBANK FEE RESOLUTION RELATING TO LAND USE AND ZONING.

EXHIBITS

A       February 14, 2006 Staff Report

B       BMC Noise Ordinance Standards for Residential Zones

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