A new restaurant beats a gun shop when it comes to what kind of
business should be housed in a Magnolia Boulevard property, the
property's owner said Tuesday, appealing to the City Council to allow
a California Chicken Cafe to open.
But by press time, the council had not made a decision, instead
listening to owners and residents in the area, many who are opposed
to the project because of lack of parking. They argue that there were
enough restaurants already on that stretch of Magnolia Boulevard.
At stake on Tuesday was a reversal of a Planning Board decision,
recommending approval of the restaurant.
But Bill Belshay, who owns the building with his wife, Leni, said
he had turned down other possible tenants because the city preferred
a restaurant at that site.
"They are the best bet for the property," Bill Belshay said. "I
wonder how many other restaurants, if this is turned down, will be
interested in that location, or Magnolia Park in general."
Belshay said a deli backed out, that he turned down a gun shop,
and expressions of interest from a post-production company and a drug
and alcohol rehabilitation center never panned out.
Albert Epstein, owner of storefront property on Magnolia, opposed
the restaurant.
"If this tenant moves in there and starts up business, and two
years later causes irreparable harm to the neighborhood, the damage
will have been done regardless of whether there are restrictions from
the Planning Board," Epstein said.
California Chicken Cafe Owner Andre de Montesquiou was seeking a
conditional-use permit to open the 4,700-square-foot restaurant at
2921 Magnolia Blvd.
He spent about 18 months looking for a site in the city for a new
restaurant and liked Magnolia Boulevard because it was a good
location with a residential base, de Montesquiou said.
If there is any effect on residential streets from his business it
would be for a 60- to 90-minute period during the lunch rush, de
Montesquiou said, and there is the option of creating permit parking
or one-hour parking if problems persisted.
"There are parking scenarios that could be implemented to protect
their rights," de Montesquiou said.
Niagara Street resident Penny Church said the proposed restaurant
did not match with the neighborhood, because of the heavy traffic, a
high-turnover restaurant would create. "We would love to have
California Chicken Cafe come to Burbank," Church said. "But when
you're talking about Magnolia Park and residential zoning adjacent,
