Darrell Satzman
CIVIC CENTER -- Calling it a last-ditch effort to build a terminal on
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s former B-6 property, city officials released a
new proposal Tuesday in an effort to solve the long-standing expansion
dispute at Burbank Airport.
The 26-point Outline of Terms, a modified version of the defunct
Framework for Settlement agreement, demands a mandatory nighttime flight
curfew before any terminal is built and would freeze noise at current
levels in the second of its two phases.
It would also commit the city to purchasing land beyond the runways as
a safety buffer zone. In addition, the proposal contains a so-called
supermajority provision, which would require approval from at least two
of three commissioners from each partner city for changes to the terminal
as well as a host of airport operations.
"We believe it's a proposal everyone should be able to live with. It's
a balanced approach," said Peter Kirsch, Burbank's attorney on airport
matters. "It's our last and best effort. We don't have a lot of time if
we have any hope of doing a deal."
TIME RUNNING OUT
Under the terms of escrow documents between Burbank Airport and the
city that were signed following the airport's purchase of the B-6 land,
the authority agreed to sell the property if no deal was in place for a
new terminal. The parties are facing a July 24 deadline before that
provision would go into effect.
With the clock ticking and no deal in place, Burbank officials said
they made their latest offer public in the interest of disclosure, as
well as in the hope that the airport is ready to respond.
"There's a certain point at which you say 'we're going to make a deal
or were not going to make a deal.' That time is now," Kirsch said.
Authority President Dios Marrero said the airport received the city's
proposal Monday and scheduled a special meeting today to discuss it.
Until that time, Marrero declined to comment on details of the proposal
but said he was surprised by the city's decision to go public with what
appeared to be an ultimatum.
"If this is indeed a last, best effort, I wish we would have known
that," Marrero said.
According to the Outline of Terms, The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena
Airport Authority could build a 14-gate, 250,000-square-foot terminal in
the first phase of the deal. However, no terminal could be built until
the airport secures a mandatory flight curfew between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The airport is applying to the Federal Aviation Administration for the
