Burbank Counters Airport Plan

In a surprise move aimed at ending a long, bitter dispute over the proposed expansion of Burbank airport, city officials said Tuesday that they would accept a slightly larger passenger terminal in return for a mandatory nighttime curfew and a 10% cap on additional flights.

Airport authorities reacted coolly to the offer, which comes after the city, which has spent close to $2 million in legal fees fighting the terminal plans, lost two recent decisions by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The proposal, which city officials are calling the Burbank Airport 21st Century Plan, calls for a new terminal with 16 gates--two more than the current 14 but well below the 19 to 27 gates in the airport’s plans.

It would support construction of a state-of-the-art passenger facility and tax-exempt financing for airport construction as long as airport officials agree to items such as joint development of parts of the site not required for airport use.

The proposal, which says Burbank would support the airport in seeking any federal approval required to control flights or noise, also calls for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority--the airport’s governing body--to agree that the terms could not be changed without consent of all three cities.

Prepared independently of the Airport Authority, the proposal was signed by Burbank’s five City Council members and its three representatives on the nine-member authority.

“We think this plan is a responsible and realistic approach which can break the stalemate between the Airport Authority and the city over future development at the airport,” Mayor Bill Wiggins said at a City Hall news conference.

But airport officials were noncommittal.

Joyce Streator, president of the Airport Authority and a Pasadena councilwoman, said she had not seen the proposal or even been briefed about its contents.

“I don’t know who they’re proposing it to. They certainly haven’t contacted me,” Streator said. “I’m confused by a press conference about a plan that hasn’t even been presented to us.