Success could spoil the Magnolia Park business district in Burbank. Known for its vintage clothing stores and funky novelty shops, the area has become an increasingly popular destination for shoppers and tourists to Los Angeles. But with the neighborhood’s raised profile has come higher rents for some local businesses. Over the last few months, 1950s-style clothing store Pinup Girl Boutique, horror-themed shop Creature Features and board game seller Geeky Teas and Games have relocated after landlords raised rents by as much as 100 percent, according to Ashley Largey, owner of Darling Nikki’s Salon and an organizer with the Save Magnolia Park campaign, a grassroots group that aims to preserve small retailers in the area. Magnolia Park runs along Magnolia Boulevard from Clybourn Avenue to Victory Boulevard. The campaign gained attention in June after an online video it produced about the rent hikes went viral on social media. A townhall meeting of local businesses and community leaders followed, and many in attendance complained about what they described as the gentrification of the neighborhood, including corporate stores such as a Target Corp. outlet moving into the area. Some also called for commercial rent controls, a request the group has since walked away from after city officials explained such a measure is prohibited by state law. “We’ve had some backlash from building owners thinking that we were anti-landlord,” Largey told the Business Journal. “But that’s not at all the case. We just want to preserve what we’ve built here in Magnolia Park.” Largey’s salon has not faced rent hikes, and she says her goal is to advocate on behalf of other local businesses. Small business preservation The Save Magnolia Park group supports proposals including establishing a revamped local business association, designating the area as a historic district and rezoning the neighborhood so that only smaller retailers can move in. “If that’s possible, that means the empty locations will be filled and we can keep the small-town charm,” Largey said. Largey has met with Burbank City Councilmember and Vice Mayor Sharon Springer to go over the proposals and inquire about obtaining city funding for local events such as the popular Ladies and Gents Night Out monthly series. Springer declined to be interviewed for this story, but Burbank Public Information Officer Simone McFarland wrote in an email that “both the City Council and city staff attended an outreach meeting and are working with the Magnolia Park community to address its concerns.” Marc Kaye, a broker at Beitler Commercial Realty Services, which leases the property that housed the now shuttered Pinup Girl Boutique storefront, said he sympathizes with the local businesses but that the rent increases are simply a product of market forces throughout Southern California. “Landlords are entitled to get the benefits from the market just like when they suffer reduced rents when there’s a recession,” he said. Kaye added that rezoning ordinances can have unintended consequences and that government intervention tends to upset local economies. He believes the Save Magnolia Park Campaign is a misguided effort. “What they should be doing is talking to their landlords and finding sympathetic landlords who are willing to moderate their rates,” he said. Kaye offered the owner of Pinup Girl Boutique a three-year lease extension at a “below-market” rate, which would have raised the rent by $800 a month in the first year and $1,000 in the second and third years of the agreement, he said. The business owner declined the offer, and Beitler has since begun leasing the 4,300-square-foot property at 3606 Magnolia Blvd. to Burbank-based Bioanomaly Inc. for $8,385 a month. Business district options Tom Flavin, chief executive of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, said gentrification has been a recurring issue for the area dating back to his time as the city’s mayor in the early 1990s. He has heard from Save Magnolia Park’s organizers and has encouraged them to work with the chamber and City Council to find a constructive solution. But he remains skeptical of some of their proposals. “I’m not sure where funding (for events) is going to come from because currently the city has a substantial budget deficit that it’s dealing with,” he said. He added that rezoning “would very likely be opposed by businesses and residential areas.” Instead, Flavin said businesses owners should consider creating a nonprofit corporate business association, which would allow property owners and tenants to work together to earn property tax benefits tied to infrastructure and modernization projects. He pointed to the Downtown Burbank Partnership, which he credits as helping revive the downtown area, as an example. Largey said the campaign is researching how to create a new business association, as well as establishing a historic district, which she says could yield tax breaks for property owners. It has also begun drafting letters to landlords asking them to collaborate on efforts to ensure local businesses can continue to afford the area. “If we can keep rents lower and make up what property owners are losing in rent with a property tax discount, then I think all parties will win,” she said. “I’m trying to tell them that I’m not against you — I’m trying to help you have longevity in Magnolia Park as well.”