The development agreement was established in 2005 to guard against airport expansion for a 10-year period. However, airport officials have said this security improvement is necessary construction stemming from a federal mandate.
“Because we do have a mandate from the [Transportation Security Administration], we do believe that the development agreement permits [this construction],” said Dan Feger, deputy executive director for the airport.
Critics doubt that the development is legal and federally mandated.
“I think this is going to be another illegal expansion,” Burbank resident Stan Hyman said. “The development agreement said they are not supposed to expand without a mandate from the [Transportation Security Administration], and I have not seen anything that remotely cites a mandate.”
But airport officials remain undaunted.
“We are going ahead with this,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said. “The ball is now in the city’s court.”
The project will include a new, 4,500-square-foot facility that will house a conveyor belt and a new, mechanized security apparatus that officials say will modernize Terminal B.
The commission called for such improvements in light of recent communication between the airport and the Transportation Security Administration.
“The current space allocated to the Transportation Security Administration to conduct baggage screening at Terminal B is inadequate,” Assistant Federal Security Director Blanca Morales said in a July 31 letter to the authority.
“This project will bring the baggage element of security up to par,” Gill said.
The commission plans to inform travelers of the improvements through a series of slides placed throughout the airport.
The slides will show the current baggage inspection process, which include baggage screeners manually inspecting luggage, and a new screener with its accompanying conveyor belt.
