BURBANK : Airport to Finish Study of Moving

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority ordered airport staff workers Tuesday to complete a study on the cost of relocating about 20 buildings that violate federal safety standards because they are too close to runways.

Airport Director Thomas Greer said the idea for the study came as airport officials began researching the costs of replacing the airport terminal, which is being moved because it lies within the 750-foot federal safety zone around the runway. He said airport staff has already determined that about 20 other buildings also violate the safety zone. He said some of the buildings are owned by the airport but that many are owned privately.

The private owners of buildings that violate the safety zones are not required to relocate, he said. But Greer said the study will be helpful to the airport authority if it decides to purchase any of those properties as the site for the new terminal.

The airport terminal and many other buildings violate the standards because the airport was built in 1930, before they were established.

The study, which Greer said will require less than $20,000 in consultant costs, will also outline how much soil contamination cleanup may be needed to relocate the buildings.

An environmental study on the effects of replacing the terminal with a larger facility outside the 750-foot zone has been completed. A second public hearing on the study is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood.