City Council Adopts an Ordinance to Streamline Review and Cut Permitting Processes in Some Instances by 50% or More

Burbank, CA (March 22, 2022) – During the March 15, 2022, City Council Meeting, Burbank Councilmembers unanimously voted to adopt an ordinance amending sections of Title 10 of Burbank Municipal Code (BMC) pertaining to definitions, standards for single-family residential zones, and nonconforming structures. The amended City zoning regulations will establish a more efficient and streamlined planning process and shorten review times for projects from the current 12-16 months to 3-8 months.

The Ordinance and resulting Zone Text Amendment updates the regulations on single-family residential R-1 and R-1-H zones including updating existing definitions, implementation of objective development standards that are developed from established design guidelines, and the elimination of inconsistent language to provide clarity and facilitate continued regulation of mass and bulk. This applies to all single-family residential development projects including additions, remodels, and construction of new single-family dwellings. The Zone Text Amendment enables a more robust streamlined review for these types of projects while maintaining objective standards that help to preserve and protect the character of the City’s single-family residential neighborhoods.

Updates to the single-family regulations will preserve all existing standards and maintain the intent of the established design guidelines by codifying them as objective development standards that will be uniformly applicable to all single-family residential development projects. The objective and measurable standards will better set expectations of what is expected from the applicants for additions, remodels, and construction of new single-family dwellings.

For more information about the Ordinance with text amendments, visit https://www.burbankca.gov/web/community-development/r-1-standard-update.