BURBANK : Panel OKs 1st Phase of Air Terminal Plan

The Burbank Airport Authority voted Tuesday to move forward with the first phase of a plan for a larger terminal--nearly tripling the size of the existing 163,000-square-foot building.

The proposal would also add five aircraft gates and almost double the number of parking spaces at the airport by 1998.

However, the airport’s commissioners say they intend to give Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena residents at least six months notice before proceeding with the last stage of the controversial, multimillion-dollar project.

Airport officials hope to ultimately quadruple the size of the terminal, raise the number of aircraft gates from 14 to 27 and more than triple the number of parking spaces by the year 2010.

Commissioners wrangled for more than two hours Tuesday over wording of a resolution intended to keep residents apprised of the project’s developments. In the end, they voted 6 to 0 to approve a slightly amended version of the resolution drafted by Airport Commissioner Bob Bowne, a Burbank city councilman.

“My thinking is the people of the city of Burbank deserve ample notice of development of any acts” related to the final phase of the project, Bowne said.

But the plan has raised worry from some Burbank residents, who wonder how the expansion would affect their quality of life.

Burbank Mayor Bill Wiggins and Vice Mayor Dave Golonski spoke before commissioners, lending support to Bowne’s original draft of the resolution.

“I know you all know . . . there is a little comfort-level problem in Burbank,” Wiggins said. “To me, this is a good compromise.”