‘Yes’ Would Put Airport Growth in Voters’ Hands

It’s hard to oppose democracy.

That might explain why no one submitted a ballot argument against Burbank’s Measure B, which, if passed, would allow city residents to vote on any expansion of the Burbank Airport.

The measure was placed on the Nov. 7 ballot by the Burbank City Council after the city rejected a voter initiative pushed by a citizen group opposed to airport expansion.

“It’s fairly simple and it gives the people the last say” on airport expansion matters, City Councilman Bob Kramer said.

Measure B asks Burbank voters if they want a voice in deciding whether the regional airport should be expanded or the terminal relocated, and under what conditions.

“The council felt the people of Burbank ought to have the last word on any expansion of Burbank Airport,” Kramer said.

If the measure is passed, a majority of Burbank voters will have to ratify all council decisions regarding a new airport terminal.

If it is defeated, the council will continue deciding all airport matters.

“Measure B is not for the expansion of the airport. Measure B is not against the expansion of the airport,” resident Bill Orr said. “Measure B lets the people vote.”

Passage of the measure could further complicate plans to build a new Burbank Airport terminal by giving Burbank voters the power to veto the project.

Airport officials have been seeking to build a new terminal for two decades to accommodate growing passenger demand. The current terminal also is too close to the airport’s east-west runway to meet modern standards.

Many Burbank residents, however, say they fear that a new, modern terminal will make it possible for a dramatic increase in the number of flights--and in jet noise and auto traffic to their neighborhoods.

The council unanimously approved Measure B in May after the city turned down a much more restrictive voter initiative proposed by the group Restore Our Airport Rights.

The ROAR proposal--which the group’s leaders have pledged to resubmit for the April ballot--would have imposed a mandatory 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew on all flights into and out of the airport, and a 10% cap on future flights and passengers.

It was designed to kill a tentative agreement for a 330,000-square-foot 14-gate terminal to replace the existing 170,000-square-foot terminal. That agreement has since expired.

Airport officials say they are now preparing to sell the former Lockheed property purchased last year for $86 million for a new terminal.

The Airport Authority is obliged to put the property up for sale because it failed to reach an agreement with Burbank officials by the May 24 deadline.

If the property doesn’t sell, the authority may choose to pursue developing it as a terminal site, said authority spokesman Victor Gill. The authority also may seek to find a new site for the replacement terminal.

The Airport Authority is conducting a massive study to try to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration to approve a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. landing and takeoff curfew at the airport.

City Manger Robert R. “Bud” Ovrom said he didn’t think the council was trying to circumvent the ROAR initiative when it passed Measure B. The council’s ballot measure, he said, offers city officials more flexibility than the ROAR proposal in dealing with airport expansion matters.

“I don’t think the council would ever want anything that rigid,” he said.

Former Burbank Councilman Ted McConkey, a ROAR leader, would have preferred seeing his group’s proposed initiative on the ballot.

But he called Measure B “a good backup position.”

“It won’t replace the ROAR initiative,” McConkey said. “But as a fallback position, it’s a good idea.”

McConkey predicted the measure will pass, but not by overwhelming numbers.

He still advocates placing more restrictions on the City Council when it negotiates with the Airport Authority. “The ROAR initiative is the real protection,” he said.

Despite the vote’s potential effect, members of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority have opted not to get involved in the local ballot measure.

But an Airport Authority spokesman said Measure B will lengthen the process for winning city approval of any changes at the airport.

“The city of Burbank’s ability to deal with the issue,” Gill said, “is complicated by the fact that there is an additional level of decision-making.”

Ovrom isn’t surprised the Airport Authority has stayed out of the election.

“What are they going to do,” he asked, “campaign against democracy?”

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Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.