Burbank Candidates Offer Ideas for Lockheed Parcel

All four candidates for the Burbank City Council agreed Thursday that the 225-acre Lockheed site, which the aerospace firm plans to abandon by 1991, must be developed so the land will continue to generate tax revenues for the city.

But challengers George Bonney and Tim Murphy, who claim that the City Council has lost touch with the people, stressed that neighbors must be consulted before decisions are made about the site’s future.

“I want to see something there” on the Lockheed site, incumbent Michael Hastings said at a forum in the Burbank City Council chambers, where the candidates presented their views Thursday night.

The city needs the tax revenues, said Hastings, suggesting that the site at Burbank Airport would be ideal for clean industries.

Mayor Al Dossin suggested that the land could be used for a shopping mall.

Bonney and Murphy proposed similar uses for the site, with qualifications.

“I want to see the impact on the surrounding areas,” Bonney said. “I want something that won’t impact the airport-area people any more.” Murphy said a neighborhood council should work actively with city planners to develop a project for the site.

The two-hour forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and broadcast live on cable television.

The candidates stated only small differences in their positions on problems such as growth, traffic, parking and air pollution.

All the candidates said they had refused campaign contributions from developers, reflecting the central position that the debate on growth has taken in the campaign. All candidates bemoaned the proliferation of apartment buildings in the city and stressed the need to preserve neighborhoods of single-family dwellings.

But challengers Murphy and Bonney portrayed themselves as more responsive to residents, while incumbents Hastings and Dossin stressed the need for experienced lawmakers to deal with the growth problem.

“The current City Council has lost track of the community’s pulse,” Bonney said, adding that “the Starlight Amphitheater is a perfect example of that.”

The City Council had planned to turn the Starlight Amphitheater into a major commercial venue until residents complained that traffic and noise generated by the amphitheater would destroy their neighborhood.