Public Airs Views on New Terminal Plan

BURBANK —  Residents at a Thursday night public hearing about a proposed new 14-gate terminal at Burbank Airport raised familiar issues about noise and pollution--factors they say would lead to erosion of their quality of life.

“It was always designed to be a regional airport, never a bigger airport,” said Burbank resident James Arone. “I don’t think the plan agreement goes far enough in terms of protections for residents to keep it a modest facility.”

About 250 people attended the hearing at the Burbank Airport Hilton convention hall. Many said city negotiators had caved in to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority when an agreement was reached for a new facility two weeks ago.

Just a few of the more than 50 speakers Thursday night voiced support for the compromise plan.

And some vowed to start a petition calling for a special election for an initiative blocking the project.

“We intend to submit the draft initiative to the city clerk and city attorney by Monday,” said Ted McConkey, an airport critic and former Burbank City Councilman.

The City Council is currently considering plans to demolish the existing 14-gate terminal--erected in 1930--and replace it with a 330,000-square-foot facility with the same number of gates. As part of the process, the proposal will be reviewed at three public hearings before a City Council vote sometime in late October or November.

McConkey said the initiative would call for mandatory caps and curfews before construction on a new terminal could begin. Airport opponents would have 180 days to gather more than 7,700 signatures required for a special election.

If it reaches a ballot, a majority of Burbank voters would have to approve the measure.

City officials said they think the compromise plan is the best deal possible.

The plan would allow the airport to build a terminal with 5,000 parking spaces. This would be built northeast of the airport’s main runway on a 130-acre parcel formerly owned by Lockheed Martin.

Noisy, older jets would be phased out over five years. Such planes make up about 30% of the general aviation aircraft at Burbank Airport.

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A second phase of the expansion could not begin until the Federal Aviation Administration approves the nighttime curfew. If that occurs, the authority could then add two gates, plus another 1,000 parking spaces.

The third phase of the project is contingent on the reduction of noise levels in adjoining neighbor hoods.

“We could have stopped the project and refused to negotiate, but that would have been irresponsible to do,” Burbank Mayor Stacey Murphy said. “We saw an opportunity to permanently solve this dispute, and we decided to take it.”