Noise Study Ordered at Burbank Airport

BURBANK —  All but abandoning efforts to break ground on a new terminal this year, Burbank Airport officials on Monday voted to launch an exhaustive noise study that officials say could delay the $300-million complex for three years or more.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority had resisted efforts to conduct such a study in the past in hopes of avoiding a lengthy delay. But faced with widespread opposition to the tentative terminal deal negotiated last year, the Airport Authority voted 8 to 0 Monday to authorize the study.

“It’s a big step for Burbank, the community and the [airport] commission,” Burbank Airport Executive Director Dios Marrero said. “We are seeking no guarantees in return. We hope our good faith will bring good-faith responses.”

The noise study, to be conducted under Part 161 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, has been sought by Burbank residents and city officials who believe the new, larger terminal will lead to more noise.

Among other things, the study will examine a possible mandatory curfew on flights between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The draft terminal deal last year called for closing the terminal building to passengers between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

But Jane Garvey, chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, objected, saying it was in effect a curfew, which would require completion of a Part 161 study.

“One of the purposes of the [terminal deal] was to get a replacement 14-gate terminal without the need to go through the 161 process,” said attorney Peter Kirsch, special counsel for Burbank on airport issues.

“That’s what Jane Garvey told us she won’t authorize. Therefore, the authority’s 161 study is a necessary step to get a new terminal.”

Originally, airport officials had hoped to win Burbank City Council approval for the terminal this month, breaking ground later this year.

With the noise study underway, the City Council will probably not approve the terminal for at least two years, Kirsch said.

“Symbolically this is an important move forward by showing the authority is interested in addressing Burbank’s issues, even before we have a formal agreement,” Kirsch said.

“At the same time, this study will delay ultimate construction.”

Airport Authority member Gerald Briggs of Glendale estimated that approval of the terminal would not come until 2003, with completion sometime in 2005.

“The city of Burbank has the right to approve any relocated terminal. Burbank has said we want mandatory caps and curfews,” Briggs said.

Some officials held out the possibility that the terminal approval process and the noise study could proceed on parallel tracks.

“I wouldn’t hazard a guess on the timeline for construction,” Burbank Mayor Stacey Murphy said.

“It’s conceivable that negotiators could reach a deal at the same time the 161 process is moving forward.”

“There’s so many elements that it’s hard to determine what may happen,” Burbank Airport Commissioner Charles Lombardo said.

“It could be three months or five years until we break ground on the terminal.”

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In undertaking the three-year, $4-million review, the authority retained Cincinnati-based aviation consultant Landrum and Brown.

Their study will take place in four phases, the first taking nine months, sampling opinions from the general public and amassing data on airport users.

The findings would then go to the FAA for approval.

Neil Bennett, Western Director for the Air Transport Assn., said he was surprised at the decision, adding he hoped that there were “other ways to handle the issue.”

“The Part 161 process is complex and we’ll have to see what it looks like,” Bennett said.

“We still feel the solution to this dispute can be reached by adhering to existing federal law.”

For the last two decades, the airport has been trying to build a terminal to better meet passenger demand and relocate the existing 1930s-era facility, which federal officials say is too close to the runway. After a protracted legal and political fight, city and airport negotiators signed a terminal framework agreement in August.

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The Airport Authority wants to build a 14-gate, 330,000-square-foot terminal expandable to 16 and ultimately 19 gates.

Although the authority is composed of representatives of the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, the city of Burbank has final approval on construction of a new complex within its city limits.

The Burbank City Council also has voted to put any terminal complex before city voters.

Also on Monday, the authority voted 7 to 1 to require its members to travel coach and to require authority approval for international flights beyond Canada and Mexico on airport-related business.

Pasadena Airport Commissioner John Crowley, the lone vote against the policy change, waved his handicap parking placard in front of other authority members, saying there should be exceptions for commissioners with medical and health problems.

“I won’t call it discrimination,” Crowley said. “But it’s close to that.”