Public Vote on Airport Work Denied : Burbank: Divided council defeats bid to gauge sentiment over terminal expansion plan.

A proposal to put Burbank Airport’s terminal expansion plan to a popular vote has been defeated by a sharply divided Burbank City Council.

The idea was introduced by Vice Mayor Dave Golonski, who had hoped that a vote would influence the thinking of airport officials and signal the public’s sentiment over the controversial multimillion-dollar project.

But three council members--Mayor Bill Wiggins, Bob Bowne and George Battey--voted against it, saying plans to quadruple the size of the present terminal have not progressed far enough to ask voters for an opinion.

“As we sit here, there is no project,” said Battey, who is also one of nine commissioners on the Airport Authority, the facility’s operating board.

The authority, which is made up of representatives from the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, is under court order to halt work on the project until a lawsuit filed by the city of Los Angeles and four homeowners groups is settled.

Design work on the project has not yet started, but airport officials released general plans for the new terminal in an environmental study that is required under state law.

In a lawsuit against the Airport Authority, Los Angeles and the homeowners groups in the southeast San Fernando Valley dispute the study’s conclusion that a larger terminal would not significantly increase aircraft noise.

Golonski’s failed proposal would have asked Burbank residents whether they support a building any larger than the terminal is now.

He said Burbank residents ought to be able to exercise more control over the future of Burbank Airport.

“I think (airport officials) need that direction,” Golonski said. “I don’t know that the community’s been consulted on this one.”

Councilwoman Susan Spanos sided with Golonski on a 2-3 vote.