SOLUTION SOUGHT FOR PARKING WOES.

Byline: Staff Writer

BURBANK - With major renovation expected to begin at Burbank High School in January, the school district is working to find enough parking spaces for residents, students and staff who will be displaced by the work.

As a result of the temporary closure of several parking lots, students and teachers will be forced to park on the streets. The district will also have to accommodate construction workers who need to park their personal vehicles in the neighborhood.

Burbank Unified School District officials said that while they haven't been able to identify spaces for all those who need on-street parking, they are working to resolve the issue before construction starts.

``We're still looking around to identify some sites to accommodate all the cars,'' said Mohammad Kashanijou, the district's senior project manager. ``Obviously there is some street parking in the vicinity; people can park there. We've been working on it - the school district, the community, the city.''

The three-phase project calls for a new south campus classroom building, a library, auto shop and administration offices. It also includes new basketball courts, soccer fields, tennis courts, a swimming pool and two-level parking structure.

The $55 million project is being financed with bond funds approved by voters in 1997, as well as funds from the school district, city, state and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The first phase of the construction project will eliminate existing parking lots, and a new parking structure will not be open until the project is nearly complete, three years later.

Kashanijou said 115 student parking spots and 147 staff spaces will be lost.

Burbank High principal Leslee de Roos said she was concerned mostly for the students, who may not have a place to park after the winter break.

``We'd originally thought the lots were going to close in November, but we have until January,'' she said. ``So we'll be all right until Christmas break . . . But there's nothing (after that) for students.''

To help deal with the parking shortage, the city of Burbank agreed last week to a plan designed to help minimize the parking problems.

By the project's end, the campus will bear little resemblance to its present form, with only the existing auditorium remaining.

``I hope everybody bears with it for the next three or four years. There's going to be a lot of confusion,'' Vice Mayor Bob Kramer said. ``But when it's done, this city will be much better for it.''

The first phase will feature a new south campus classroom building, a library, auto shop and administration offices. The next phase calls for renovating the current administration building, demolishing the arts and auto shop buildings and creating new basketball courts and soccer fields.

The final phase includes the new parking structure, tennis courts, gymnasium and swimming pool.

The parking plan involves placing construction vehicles on campus and on the north side of Harvard Road. The city will re-stripe the parallel parking spaces there to create 25 diagonal spaces for the work crews, doubling the number of spaces there now.

Eighty diagonal spaces will be created for staff members on Third Street between Burbank Boulevard and Delaware Road to replace 35 existing parallel spaces there. A student loading/unloading zone will be relocated to Glenoaks Boulevard.

City officials said the new spaces will be reserved for school use from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. but open to the public at other times.

During phase two, approximately 54 parking spaces will be constructed on campus. The parking structure will be opened midway through phase three.

Kashanijou said the district also is rebuilding John Burroughs High School, but because it does not impact any of the school's parking lots the district does not expect to provide off-site parking.

He said the district will eventually establish a hotline for residents to call with questions or concerns about the construction.