Terminal project proposal heads to Burbank Planning Board

The clock is ticking for members of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to get all the required approvals they need to place a proposed 14-gate replacement terminal project on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The authority ultimately needs approval from the Burbank City Council and the city’s voters to move forward with its plans. However, the proposal to build a 355,000-square-foot terminal — preferably on the northeastern section of the airfield known as the B-6 parcel — will first need to be reviewed by the Burbank Planning Board.

On Thursday, the five-member board will consider whether it should follow city staff’s recommendation and suggest that council members green light the project or tell the City Council otherwise.

“We’re very optimistic, but we’re still crossing our Ts and dotting our Is,” said Lucy Burghdorf, spokesperson for the Hollywood Burbank Airport. “We look for a favorable outcome.”

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Planning Board members will be reviewing the project’s lengthy environmental-impact report, in which the final draft of the document was published on June 28. They will also be going through a development agreement between the city and the authority that outlines the powers and responsibilities each agency has during and after construction of the proposed terminal.

During a City Council meeting on June 21, a few council members criticized the development agreement for lacking information and being difficult to read and understand.

They also said during an earlier meeting that the draft environmental-impact report was lacking details about traffic and construction. Despite those comments, the authority does not have any concerns and expects “a favorable recommendation,” Burghdorf said.

“The airport and city staffs have both done a fine job preparing all the documents,” she said.

When asked about whether there was concern about the Planning Board not recommending approval of the project, Burghdorf said she does not expect the commission to turn down the plans.

Should the Planning Board give the project a thumbs up, the City Council will hold meetings on July 25 and 26 to either approve or deny the plans for the replacement terminal. However, before those hearings, authority members are expected to approve the environmental-impact report during a meeting on July 11.

If council members approve the project, it will trigger a vote under Measure B, which states that voters must approve any replacement terminal project on the B-6 parcel for construction to begin.

City officials are expected to make a final decision about the project on Aug. 1. If it’s approved, city officials will call for an election and put Measure B on the ballot.

“We have everything we believe they need,” Burghdorf said.

Should the ballot measure fail, authority officials have said that they will abandon plans to build the terminal on the B-6 parcel and switch gears to construct at similarly sized 355,000-square-foot terminal on the southwest area of the airfield.

Airport officials have also said that building a terminal in that quadrant would not require any approval by voters because the property is owned by the airfield.

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio