By Mary O’KEEFE

During a community coffee with constituents of District 44, Assemblymember Nick Schultz took questions from the audience. The first question had to do with housing – a hot topic in the areas of Crescenta Valley and Burbank. 

“Can you identify a point at which you would oppose additional housing development in a high-risk fire community,” asked a member of the audience. The audience member referenced the proposed development at Briggs Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. 

Another audience member asked about Schultz’s abstention on SB79, which was signed into law in October 2025.

Schultz delved into his abstention on the vote on SB79, a law that has been controversial since it was first introduced. The bill had numerous amendments prior to being signed by the governor. It allows transit agencies to build on their own property with greater density than local zoning and streamlines the transit-oriented development approval process. It basically automatically up-zones land within a quarter mile of rail stations, major bus stops and ferry terminals. Although SB79 is not directly related to the 66-unit building planned for the Briggs and Foothill area, the idea of side-stepping the community concerns and/or design review boards is very much at the center of SB79 and a concern of residents about the proposed local development. 

“I do believe we have a housing crisis, an affordable housing crisis, a homeownership crisis and we need to add more housing. With all due respect to my community [in Burbank], which I love, putting more housing on the site of the old IKEA is one thing but putting housing up here in the foothills where you have a narrow one-way in and one-way out corridor is more of a safety concern,” he said. 

He added he was not saying he did not have concerns about what was happening with building in Burbank but “we have to be smart with Burbank.”

“My concern with this [Briggs and Foothill project] is that when I look at the scale of this project I do question whether we’re going to be able to safely accommodate the ingress and egress of folks,” he said. “So while I’m not the decision-maker on this one, I am encouraging the board of supervisors to make a final decision to carefully weigh the public safety risks.”

Note: Supervisor Kathryn Barger and her fellow supervisors will be the ones who make the decision whether LA County will financially support the project through grants. 

The discussion of housing continued with the audience focusing on housing, fire safety and how building affects businesses. The City of Burbank is presently suing Metro regarding a dedicated bus lane on Olive Avenue. Many were concerned that Metro could trigger an SB79 development, which would not take into consideration long-standing design and practices in the City of Burbank. 

Circling back to the question of building in high-risk fire areas, like La Crescenta, Schultz referenced the Station Fire of 2009 and the most recent Eaton Fire. 

“We live in a constant state of drought and near-drought and the risk of a wildland fire is ever-present, so we can’t be blind to that,” he said. “We have to be thinking about how we’re setting up people to stay safe in this community.”

Other questions included funding for career technical education, like nursing, physical therapy and healthcare, for young people and adults. Schultz stated that supporting those careers means money will have to come through the budget but said he feels that can be accomplished. He added the state is seeing shortages for those who are trained in those types of careers, especially in rural areas.
“I’m all about making these investments. I would just say the issue and the challenge we face this year is we need to find some way to pay for [them],” he said. 

He believes there are ways to support programs that educate by looking at other areas where funding can be adjusted. Schultz chairs the Public Safety Commission. He said one of the areas he feels where the state could find funds is the state prisons and that although the state prison population is in decline the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has proposed $400 billion in new spending. 

“That doesn’t make sense to me,” he said. 

Then local community leader Steve Pierce asked about SB84. Pierce works with the Montrose Shopping Park Association, which this bill would directly affect. 

Pierce explained that he has talked to small businesses from Montrose to Sherman Oaks and “everything in between” that have been hit by ADA [Americans With Disabilities Act] lawsuits. There are groups of lawyers that could be described as “predatory” that will bring lawsuits against small, medium and large businesses for construction-related, often minor technical violations, regarding ADA complaints. 

One example of a lawsuit against a small business was found in “The Desert Review.” It stated a business owner was sued because her restaurant table was 1/16th of an inch too low. Another business owner said her parking lot sign concerning ADA parking was stolen overnight and she immediately ordered a new sign; however, that did not stop a lawsuit from being filed that day against her. 

SB84, authored by State Senator Roger Niello, was created to balance the protection of ADA rights while fighting for the rights of business owners. That would create an opportunity for businesses to respond and correct any accusations of a violation within 120 days. 

The bill has passed the Senate and was moved to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, where it appears presently to be sitting. 

“It’s a bill that I support,” Schultz said. 

The Assembly has until the end of June to give the bill a hearing. 

Schultz invited everyone in the audience to contact his office, as well as their state senator, who is State Senator Sasha Pérez, if they have concerns or support a bill. He added that people do not have to only write to representatives in their own area but to others like Neillo if they agree or have concerns about his bill SB86. 

Assemblymember Nick Schultz’s state capital office number is (916) 319-2044, his Burbank office is (818) 558-3043. His website is https://schultz.asmdc.org His contact email address can be found at Assemblymember Schultz’s website.