U.S. Approves Burbank Airport Plan

Federal officials have approved plans for a new, expanded passenger terminal at the Burbank Airport, but Burbank city officials say they will sue to block the controversial project unless mediation efforts resolve disputes over its size and who will control it.

An FAA administrator on Friday certified an environmental report on the new terminal, citing the long-standing contention that the existing, 1930s-era building is dangerously close to the runways by modern standards.

The move makes the estimated $300-million-plus project eligible for federal grants, completes all required environmental reviews and gives a virtual green light to begin drafting plans for the new facility, airport officials said.

“This is a big step forward in the process leading to a new and safer terminal,” said Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority President Carl Raggio Jr. “The airport authority has for 16 years sought to comply with the direction that the FAA has asked us to go to improve safety, and we now have the opportunity to comply.”

Both the authority’s pro-expansion majority and Burbank officials--who fear the project could unfairly burden their city with unwanted increases in noise, traffic and other problems--say they will stick to a “cooling-off period” in hopes that an amicable solution can be reached. The cooling-off period--during which the two sides agreed to hold off on new actions and negotiate--began in December and lasts until June.

This week, meetings are scheduled between a team of mediators hired to intervene in the dispute and the Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena city councils. Each of the cities appoints three members to the nine-member commission that runs the airport.

But under federal law, the city of Burbank has 60 days to file suit in federal court appealing the FAA’s approval of the environmental document.

City officials said Monday that if the airport authority does not make “meaningful” concessions before the deadline, they will sue, which could hamstring the airport’s ability to pursue the project for months, or even years.

“I don’t think we’ll have much choice, in order to preserve our legal position,” said Robert “Bud” Ovrom, Burbank city manager.

A lawsuit would put an early end to the mediation process, which Burbank officials say has already been compromised by the airport authority’s recent decision--with Burbank commissioners dissenting--to resume talks with Lockheed Martin Corp. for the purchase of land for the new terminal.

Airport authority members counter that the land talks were resumed only to avoid being hit with a lawsuit by Lockheed Martin.

Burbank City Councilman Bob Kramer said he wants the city and the airport authority to resolve all disputes over the airport before the lawsuit deadline.

“It’s not unreasonable. It’s a question of basic control,” Kramer said. “Who’s going to control the airport? Will we have a reasonable curfew on flights? Will there be a limit on the number of flights? If issues like that aren’t settled, then I think we should file a lawsuit.”

Airport officials say a new terminal could be built within about five years at the earliest. Even after the 140-acre terminal site adjacent to the airport is purchased, it has not been decided which agency will perform an extensive cleanup of contaminated ground water.

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The environmental study was based on plans for a new terminal of up to 670,000 square feet, with up to 27 passenger gates, compared to the current 268,000-square-foot terminal with 14 gates.

But more recently, Raggio and other pro-expansion officials have talked about a smaller terminal with as few as 14 gates that meets current FAA standards for interior space and distance from runways. The existing terminal is more than 300 feet closer to the runways than current federal guidelines allow.

Once the land has been purchased and questions of the building’s size and operation are settled, either through voluntary mediation or the courts, the authority will hire architects to design the facility and a program manager to oversee the many contractors needed for the job.

But with a possible legal battle looming, officials concede it may be a long time coming.

“One way or another, it will be a long time before we ever turn a shovel of dirt,” authority spokesman Victor Gill said Monday.