Wachs Cites Postcard Protest on Airport Plan

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs said Friday his office had received more than 600 postcards from local residents demanding that a provision banning easterly takeoffs be stripped from the framework deal for a new Burbank Airport terminal.

Wachs said the cards, which were collected by the Studio City Residents Assn., would be sent to Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey to express dissatisfaction with the existing deal that includes a ban on easterly takeoffs.

“The City of Los Angeles has always been a key constituent of regional air traffic development,” Wachs wrote Garvey in a March 28 letter. “ . . . successful settlement of the Airport expansion issues depends on our continued involvement.”

In January, Garvey wrote The Times that the FAA could not support a terminal deal that included a ban on easterly departures, citing the impact on Los Angeles residents, prompting Rep. Jim Rogan (R-Glendale) to request a formal FAA opinion on the matter.

But because Garvey has been working to resolve differences with Burbank officials, Studio City residents are concerned she will change her position.

The easterly takeoffs are just one of the controversial elements of the airport deal reached in August by negotiators for the city and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The plan tentatively called for a 14-gate, 330,000-square-foot terminal expandable to 16 and later 19 gates, provided it was linked to a mandatory curfew. It also called for the terminal to be closed between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m, which was intended to skirt the need for a formal noise study that would be required under a curfew.

Burbank officials conceded Thursday the terminal project could be delayed up to two years after Garvey told them the airport cannot unilaterally close the terminal building overnight without a full noise study.

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Meanwhile, Burbank officials proposed several election alternatives following a 5-0 vote by the Burbank City Council on Tuesday to have voters approve any new Burbank Airport terminal agreement.

Burbank City Clerk Judie Sarquiz said the council could call a special election before November, a mail ballot election, a vote coinciding with the presidential election or wait until the next city vote in February.

She estimated a special election would cost the city $70,000 while an all mail-in ballot election could run as much as $55,000.