L.A. May Sue Over Airport Expansion

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to sue Burbank Airport if new talks fail to resolve concerns that an expansion of the facility will worsen noise for East Valley residents.

The council ordered a negotiating team to ask the airport to drop a proposed rule that all takeoffs after the expansion be to the west, over Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The council voted unanimously to direct City Atty. James Hahn to file suit if negotiations fail.

“It is just crass politics that has led Burbank Airport to propose a ban on flights that would go over the constituencies they represent at the expense of those we represent,” said Councilman Mike Feuer.

Burbank and the airport, after years of feuding, agreed in August to an expansion plan, but also asked the Federal Aviation Administration to permanently ban easterly takeoffs as a condition.

Councilman Joel Wachs, who said his own Studio City home is in the flight path, said his constituents do not oppose a new terminal per se.

“What they oppose is an absolutely arrogant and cavalier attitude on the part of the [airport] authority that ‘L.A. citizens be damned, we’re only going to think of the people who live in the three jurisdictions, Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena,’ that they represent,” Wachs said. “Everyone has to bear a fair share.”

An earlier legal challenge by the city failed, but Deputy City Atty. Keith Pritsker said there have been enough changes in the expansion proposal to allow a new lawsuit.

“There is significant new information, including that they want to ban easterly departures,” Pritsker said.

The mayor of Burbank has already agreed to meet with Los Angeles officials to discuss their concerns, Pritsker said.