92.9 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Apr 18, 2024
Array

Burbank Council, Airport Authority at Odds

The Burbank City Council has rejected terms proposed by the joint powers authority that owns Burbank Bob Hope Airport for building a replacement terminal at the airfield. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority had sought to have the Council sign off on terms that would cap the terminal at 14 gates, restrict its size to no larger than 355,000 square feet and require the airport to continue a voluntary curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. It also wanted an environmental review to begin and the terms to be sent to voters in the form of a referendum. In a special meeting on Sunday, the Council voted 5-0 to reject the terms, which had been submitted to the city in November. The issue also was raised again at the Council’s regular Tuesday night meeting when Mayor David Gordon discussed the matter and the Council’s vote on Sunday. However, Burbank spokesman Drew Sugars said negotiations between the airport and authority over a new terminal would continue. Many Burbank residents are wary of any plans for a new terminal, fearing it will lead to more flights and noise, while the authority is anxious to improve facilities at the airport. The existing terminal is 211,000 square feet and dates from the 1930s. Proposals for a new terminal building have been raised off and on for decades. In the early 1990s, the authority board voted to build a new terminal with about 840,000 square feet. However, in 2000, Burbank residents approved Measure B, an initiative that requires public approval of expansion or relocation of the airport’s terminal. The measure remains in effect and applies to the current proposal. The latest plan occurs at a time when the San Fernando Valley’s only commercial airfield has seen a drop in passengers and airlines pulling out flights as they consolidate at larger airports. For 11 months of last year, the airport served about 3.5 million passengers or a half percent increase from 2013.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Featured Articles

Related Articles