$13.7 Million for 16 Acres : Burbank Airport to Buy Adjacent Land

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority voted Monday to spend $13.7 million to purchase about 16 acres of land that may eventually be used for parking and taxiways.

The authority voted 8 to 0 to approve the purchase. Commissioner Mary Lou Howard, who represents Burbank, was not present.

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said no definite uses for the two properties have been determined yet, “but it’s our policy to purchase land whenever it’s contiguous to the airport.”

The commissioners voted to buy a 15.4-acre parcel where several machine shops and factories are located, south of Sherman Way and north of Clybourn Avenue, for $13.1 million from Lockheed Corp. Gill said the Lockheed property may be used for a taxiway parallel to the airport’s east-west runway.

In addition, a one-acre parcel at Hollywood Way and Winona Avenue will be purchased from the Burbank Redevelopment Agency for $600,000. That property will probably be used for remote parking and could accommodate up to 200 cars, airport spokeswoman Elly Mixsell said.

Tested for Contamination

Mixsell said the Lockheed parcel will be tested for soil contamination and toxic chemicals, although it is not thought to be contaminated.

The company is using a $4-million treatment system to clean chemically tainted ground water beneath its Burbank plant. The state Water Quality Control Board has said the Lockheed plant contributed to pollution of ground water that forced the closure of more than 30 municipal water wells in Burbank and North Hollywood.

Lockheed will vacate the property by December, and environmental work will be completed by June 30, 1990, officials said.

Lockheed is transferring virtually all manufacturing, parts fabrication and engineering activities to newer facilities in Palmdale, Rye Canyon and Marietta, Ga.

The purchases will bring the total area of the airport to around 450 acres, officials said. The state law that established the airport authority allows the airport to grow in acreage, but prohibits the lengthening of its two runways, Gill said.