Partial Funds for Airport Site OKd

Spelling a possible end to years of hostility, recrimination and lawsuits, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Wednesday authorized a partial payment to Lockheed Martin for land to construct a new airport terminal.

The 8-0 vote gives acting Airport Director Dios Marrero the authority to pay Lockheed $30 million toward the purchase of its 130-acre, Plant B-6 site.

But the panel stopped short of approving the payment immediately, as airport officials want further assurances from the city of Burbank that it will drop its opposition to the planned 14-gate terminal.

Airport officials also want the right to expand the airport beyond 14 gates based on passenger demand, while Burbank wants to link expansion to implementation of an overnight flight curfew.

“What we are trying to do is signal that the airport authority is willing and able to make the payment to Lockheed,” Marrero said. “If a framework can be reached, then we will make the payment.”

After the meeting both sides resumed intense talks that were expected to last late into Wednesday and possibly through Aug. 6. That is the end of a 10-day grace period for the airport to pay Lockheed the $30-million partial payment for the land it seized under eminent domain in 1997.

A jury last month set the total price at $86 million. If the airport authority fails to complete the purchase, Lockheed lawyers say it would face millions of dollars in potential damages for wrongful seizure of the land.

Burbank City Manager Robert R. “Bud” Ovrom indicated in a letter sent to Marrero last week that a 14-gate terminal appeared to be “basically consistent with long-standing city policy.”

But he added that expansion of the facility had to be linked to mandatory noise restrictions--an issue that has become a point of contention, according to sources on both sides.

Even so, Wednesday’s vote was hailed as a key step toward construction of a modern replacement terminal to replace the existing facility, which dates back to 1930.

A final agreement is expected to be reached “in the next hours or days,” said Airport Authority President Carl Meseck.

Charles Lombardo, an authority member from Burbank, said the vote continues the momentum toward accord that has been building since last spring, when a state Court of Appeal ruled that the city of Burbank has authority over land use decisions at Burbank Airport.

“It’s another step in the right direction,” Lombardo said.

Even after the purchase, however, the terminal plan must undergo public hearings and be approved by the City Council. Hearings are not expected to be held for two months.

In the meantime, opponents of the plan have accused city officials of cutting a back-room deal that does not adequately protect residents from aircraft noise and traffic generated by a new terminal.

“Despite what the city has said, they are seriously negotiating and they have cut the public out of the process,” said longtime airport critic Ted McConkey. “If they come in and hold a public hearing after illegally deciding what their vote is going to be, Burbank residents will take action whether that’s a recall, referendum or other legal steps.”