Airport terminal project moves closer to fruition

Plans to build a 14-gate replacement terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport took another step closer to fruition on Monday after the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority decided to move forward with the project.

Authority members voted 8-0, with commissioner Steve Madison absent, to approve the project’s environmental-impact report, which analyzed the possible impacts of building a 355,000-square-foot terminal on the northeast portion of the airfield known as the B-6 parcel.

The document also reviewed possible impacts of building a 355,000-square-foot or a 232,000-square-foot, 14-gate terminal on the southwest section of the airport.

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Commissioners also approved a development agreement with Burbank, which lays out the responsibilities and powers each agency will have during the construction process and after the terminal is completed.

One of the conditions authority members said they are proud of is establishing a super-majority voting requirement among the authority’s nine commissioners on major issues, such as increasing the number of gates, expansion of the terminal, acquiring land or entering into a long-term contract.

While only a simple majority is currently required on those issues, the super-majority mandates that two of the three representatives from each of the cities that make up the authority must give their approval.

The agreement, if approved by the City Council, would also establish an alternative review process for the terminal’s design. The process would have no less than six public design workshops and every Burbank resident must be notified of any community meeting relating to the design of the facility.

Frank Quintero, authority board president, said that Monday was the day that current and past commissioners have been waiting for as they have spent decades trying to develop a project that would become a reality.

“It’s not going to be a huge Taj Mahal that is not in any way going to bring us more traffic or even more flights, but it will be a safe terminal in an excellent location,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful experience for all of the travelers.”

Now that the authority has given the project a green light, the replacement terminal project just needs two more critical approvals. At 6 p.m. on July 25 and 26, the City Council will hold a public hearing for the development agreement, and members will decide if they should approve the first reading of the ordinance.

On Aug. 1, council members are expected to decide whether to approve the second reading of the development-agreement ordinance and call for a Measure B election.

Under Measure B, Burbank residents must approve any project on the B-6 parcel. Should the City Council call for an election, the issue will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Should the ballot measure fail, airport officials have said that they will forgo constructing the terminal on the B-6 parcel and instead build the new facility on the southwest section of the airfield, which they say does not require voter approval because the airport owns the property.

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio