Lockheed Tells Airport to Buy Now

The Burbank Airport authority should either buy land for expansion now or let the property be sold to someone else, according to owner Lockheed Martin Corp.

Lockheed, which owns the 120-acre parcel considered critical for building a new, modern terminal, urged the authority to act one way or the other in a recent letter.

The authority will hold a special meeting Thursday to discuss Lockheed’s demand.

The demands add a new wrinkle to the already complex negotiations over airport expansion, which have pitted Burbank, concerned about more noise and congestion, against Pasadena and Glendale. The three cities jointly control the airport.

Vincent Marafino, Lockheed Martin’s land negotiator, said in a Jan. 29 letter to authority President Carl Raggio that the land earmarked for a new terminal is being held “hostage,” paralyzing the firm’s ability to dispose of the property quickly.

Lawyers for the airport authority have advised commissioners to take the letter seriously, suggesting that it is possible Lockheed Martin may have grounds for an inverse condemnation lawsuit. But opponents of the airport’s expansion plan say they think the company is bluffing.

“I personally do not think anything in Mr. Marafino’s letter should lead any of the parties to change our course,” said Burbank City Manager Robert “Bud” Ovrom. “There’s not a chance in a million [of a Lockheed lawsuit]. There are no actionable grounds whatsoever. It’s just a bluff, just hot air.”

Raggio said he called a meeting Thursday to consider how to respond to Lockheed.

“When you look at this whole situation, the one party that has been left out of it is the property owner,” Raggio said. “He [Marafino] indicated he wanted a response from the city of Burbank and from the airport, and I take that very seriously.”

Under a truce among Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, airport commissioners are prevented from discussing the land sale until June. Raggio said nothing would be done to upset the delicate political balance on expansion.

“Whatever we come out with in the way of direction from this meeting, it will not violate the truce,” Raggio said.

A subcommittee of the airport authority has selected two mediators, Gerald Cormick of Seattle and John Jostes of Santa Barbara, to help settle the deep-running airport dispute.

The city of Burbank is concerned that the new terminal will triple the size of the existing one and pave the way for a huge airport. Expansion backers say the existing terminal is overcrowded and needs to be replaced.

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Marafino, a former Lockheed Martin vice president, retired in 1995 but has been retained by the company as a consultant to the airport land deal, which he negotiated on the company’s behalf. He could not be reached for comment.

Phil Berlin, one of Burbank’s three authority members, said he is concerned that by merely meeting Thursday to discuss Lockheed’s demands, the authority risks jeopardizing the still-delicate truce.

“Mr. Marafino does deserve a response, but to me, the response should be a succinct letter stating that we have a standstill agreement and we intend to honor it,” Berlin said. “Any action beyond that could violate the agreement.”