NBC's expansion promises traffic woes for Burbank.

BURBANK - The expansion project planned by NBC Studios is expected to contribute to a traffic nightmare for Media District residents in the next decade, as entertainment giants simultaneously engage in massive build-outs of their studio lots.

A draft environmental impact report on NBC's project, which was released Nov. 22, shows that traffic to and from the NBC facility at the corner of Bob Hope Drive and Alameda Avenue would more than double in the next 12 years, if the expansion is built.

While those additional cars to NBC alone would not choke local roadways, the combined traffic from other major projects in the area is a worrisome prospect for neighbors.

"All the development combined is going to be pretty hard on this area," said Barbara Briel, president of Burbank Rancho Homeowners. "But I don't know what anyone can do about it now."

NBC is proposing to add four, 15-story office towers, six sound stages and three underground parking garages.

Its most pressing need is for additional sound stages. Eight network shows are now produced at the complex's existing seven sound stages, and the company is anxious to build more.

"The problem NBC has been facing for the last several years is, we are running out of space," NBC Vice President John O'Neill said last week. "We are at the absolute mercy of people who have production facilities." (see related story, page 4)

But first, it has to get the necessary permits from the city; the draft environmental report will be the subject of a public hearing before the Burbank Planning Board on Dec. 9.

The NBC project is one of many developments proposed for the booming Burbank Media District, which boasts an office vacancy rate of 0.9 percent, according to researcher Madalyn Seyer with real estate brokerage firm Grubb & Ellis Co.

MCA Inc. is seeking approval to more than double the size of its facilities in nearby Universal City, and Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. have both been given the green light to expand their Burbank studio lots.

NBC has one advantage over the other projects in terms of negotiating government approval: Its property does not abut any residential areas.

Nonetheless, NBC has been meeting with residents of nearby neighborhoods since the project was first announced in June, working to alleviate any concerns they might have.

The project's only serious negative impact, according to the draft EIR, would be increased traffic.

"I'm not going to hide from this, traffic is a problem," admitted O'Neill. "It's the major concern of the residents, it's the major concern of NBC."

According to the EIR, there would be 15,500 daily vehicle trips generated by the NBC Studios operations if the expansion project is approved and completed as planned in the next 10 to 20 years. Currently, NBC Studios generates about 6,300 daily vehicle trips.

According to a traffic study in the draft EIR, seven intersections in Burbank and four in the Barham/Cahuenga corridor in the City of Los Angeles would experience unacceptable congestion by the year 2008, when the combined impact of all the planned expansion projects, including NBC, would be complete.

Three freeway segments would also experience serious traffic flow problems.

To mitigate the projected problems, NBC, Warner Bros., Disney and other developers have agreed to contribute toward improvements at the various intersections and freeway onramps affected. Planned mitigation efforts include widening and restriping the intersections and modifying traffic signals. The amount NBC would pay for street improvements has not yet been determined.

Neighbor's, meanwhile, seem less than satisfied with the mitigation efforts - but are expressing a sense of helplessness to do anything about the problem.

"It was supposed to be a growth-control plan, but I think it went way too far," Briel said.

Burbank Planning Board members said they are witholding public judgement of NBC's proposal until their Dec. 9 meeting, although no one on the board has ever expressed opposition to the plan.

"It's definitely an important plan for Burbank's economic position," said planning board member Carolyn Berlin. "It will mean a lot in the way of high-paying, high-skilled employment."

NBC Studios currently employs 1,100 people and an additional 600 to 900 on a day-to-day contract basis, O'Neill said.

Once the proposed expansion is complete, about 5,000 full-time and contract workers would be employed there, O'Neill said.

The Nov. 22 release of the draft EIR marked the beginning of a 45-day public comment period, after which the planning board will vote on whether to approve the report. If the planning board approves the draft EIR, the proposal would go to the City Council for final approval; O'Neill hopes to have the city's consent by the end of February 1997.

If the project is approved, it would be built in stages. The first phase, which would break ground in December 1997, is designed to include a 15-story office tower along California Street, a parking garage and six sound stages.

About 200,000 square feet of existing buildings would be demolished to make way for the new facilities.

The second phase calls for an additional 15-story tower along Bob Hope Drive and another parking structure.

Two other office towers and a third parking structure have been proposed for NBC's property along Alameda Avenue, but they would not be built unless NBC finds a tenant to occupy them.

NBC itself would not need those offices until about 30 years down the road, and wants to find a tenant willing to sign a 15- to 20-year lease before it commits to building the structures, O'Neill said.

The cost to build the proposed expansion has not been determined yet. Architectural plans will not even be drawn up until the city approvals are in place, O'Neill said.