BURBANK : Developer’s Wetlands Deal OKd by Council

Developer Sherman Whitmore has won permission to restore 3.5 acres of wetlands on Burbank city property, in order to replace wetlands he plans to destroy for a project he is building on private land elsewhere in the city.

The council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday night to allow Whitmore to use city property in Stough Canyon to meet a requirement by state and federal agencies that he replace wetlands destroyed by his Burbank Hillside project in the Verdugo Mountains.

The action reverses a decision by the council two years ago prohibiting the use of city land to replace wetlands. Whitmore and his lawyer, Brian Bird, have contended that action had been taken merely as an attempt to block the Burbank Hillside development.

The resolution will have to go back to the City Council for final approval.

Whitmore received final city map approval for the project, a residential project with 129 homes, in 1990.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Councilman David Golonski, the lone vote against the plan. Golonski said he wanted Whitmore to replace the wetlands on his own property.

Assistant City Manager Steve Helvey said that Whitmore will still need approval from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to move the wetlands.

Some residents who spoke at the meeting objected to the council action, saying that the maintenance of the wetlands will rely on a homeowners association that will be established after Whitmore builds and sells the homes.

“I have yet to see any promises that this homeowners association is going to exist,” said one speaker, Kathe Klopp, who said that the city would have to pay for the wetlands if the homeowners group is never formed. “You’re putting the taxpayers and residents in a position of risk.”