Burbank Urged to Challenge Measure A

Burbank Airport’s governing board urged the City Council on Wednesday to file suit against a new ballot initiative, saying the city risks wasting millions of dollars spent on previous court victories while incurring even more liabilities.

Measure A, approved by 58% of Burbank voters Tuesday, imposes a mandatory overnight curfew, limits flights and requires two-thirds of city voters to approve all capital improvement projects at the airport.

But in a letter sent Wednesday to Burbank Mayor Bob Kramer, Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority President Chris Holden said the initiative had created “uncertainty and inflexibility” in the joint quest by the city and Airport Authority to build a new airport terminal.

Among the defects in Measure A alleged by Holden:

* It would place illegal limitations on the Burbank City Council’s decision-making.

* It would make it difficult to reconcile the new law with the rules governing the airport’s joint powers authority, which includes Glendale and Pasadena.

* It would open the city to possible lawsuits from businesses that operate at the airport.

In the letter, Holden did not address whether the Airport Authority would pursue its own legal challenge.

But he noted the concerns of some Burbank city officials that any future lawsuits could overturn an obscure state legal provision that has given Burbank influence over the size and scope of a new airport terminal since 1997.

“It’s potentially losing what we’ve gained,” Burbank City Manager Robert “Bud” Ovrom said. “If we spend $500,000 or a million to defend it and lose, we may also lose $10 million of prior victories.”